


If I Can't Have You...

by VincentMeoblinn



Series: Nogitsune [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Anal, Angst and Humor, Arranged Marriage, Blood and Injury, Bottom Stiles Stilinski, Canonical Character Death, Coercion, Derek Bottoms for Babies, Electrocution, Epic Bromance, Eventual Romance, Fluid Sexuality, Frottage, Illnesses, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Knotting, Lust at First Sight, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Minor Character Death, Mpreg, Oral Sex, Pining Derek, Sexuality Crisis, Versatile Derek Hale, Wooing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2016-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-10 04:38:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 27,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5571461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VincentMeoblinn/pseuds/VincentMeoblinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Desperate to recover after Deucalion slaughters half his pack, Scott turns to the wealthy Hale Pack for help, hoping a merger between his small pack and theirs will give them protection. He has nothing to barter with until Derek picks a mate from the remains of his pack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Derek frowned as he felt a subtle pull towards the group sitting before his mother. The pack was visiting from the other side of Beacon Hills, which wasn’t his mother’s territory. They had just suffered a hell of a lot of deaths due to an attack by an Alpha pack. Only a few werewolves had survived, and the lone Alpha was sitting before them, young and naive, but powerful despite being bitten. He was a _True_ Alpha, and forming an alliance with him could be both good and bad. On one hand, he would make a powerful ally. On the other, he was bait for any wanting to challenge his power, as had just been demonstrated. He was also a college kid, as were the rest of his pack members. If anything they looked like a prom committee, not a pack.

Derek could see his mother debating in her mind what the pros and cons of their merger would be. While she was distracted Derek’s nose twitched as he tried to sort out the location of the scent that was teasing him. He glanced at the woman first and mentally categorized her as _banshee_. He had never seen or smelled one before, but she was the only one who fit the description from his mother’s spies. Next was the banshee’s Mate, who Derek instantly labeled Asshole after a quick glance. Kneeling on the floor at the Alphas feet and leaning into his space was a young pale werewolf with curly hair. He had haunted eyes that Derek quickly looked away from when they unexpectedly focused on his. He’d take that slight show of weakness over continuing to stare into those depths. Boyd was someone Derek was familiar with as he’d been the one to deliver the summons. He was a smart but quiet beta and Derek quickly skipped over him to stare at Erica. Unless he was mistaken, she was slightly unhinged, but he wasn’t sure if it was in a dangerous way or not.

Finally there was a their druid, a young man by the name of Stiles Stilinski who Derek recalled was studying under the Hale Alpha’s druid. He’d never met him before but he’d caught tantalizing scents drifting off of Deaton from time to time that had made him sniff at the man until his mother had scolded him. Deaton had been the one to convince them to take the summons and meet with the true Alpha and his pack. Now Derek knew why. Deaton must have known.

Derek studied the slim figure with pale skin and amber eyes that looked like they were a flash away from becoming wolf eyes. They weren’t, of course. Druids were immune to the Bite. The young man caught Derek staring at him and gave him a ‘you lookin at me’ glance, jerking his head back. Derek stood completely still while Stiles glanced over his shoulder, then looked back at Derek and raised his eyebrows in question. When Derek continued to stare into his soul the young man shifted uncomfortably, made a disgruntled face, and flipped him off.

Derek snorted. His mother, however, stiffened beside him in offense.

“I can’t justify putting my pack through… I beg your pardon, Druid Stilinski?” Talia Hale boomed out with narrowed eyes.

“What? Oh. No. No, no, no, that wasn’t at you,” Stiles replied, “He was making faces at me.”

Stiles indicated Derek with a fluttering of long fingers that quickly wrapped back around his staff. The staff was carved with dozens of runes but Derek couldn’t see its point. Druids didn’t need _dead_ wood to work with, they needed _living_ trees and soil, so why the staff?

“So you were giving my _son_ the finger?” Talia asked.

Scott sighed as if much put upon and Isaac rubbed between his eyebrows. Stiles stammered about not knowing that Derek was her son and a few other inconsequential sentences before Derek decided to speak up.

“Mother, I want him.”

“Derek!” She replied, a look of shock on her face.

Derek shook his head at her misunderstanding, “He’s my Mate, mother.”

“He… you’re sure?” Talia asked, glancing between Derek and Stiles.

“Yes,” Derek stated firmly.

“Come again?” Stiles asked, eyebrow raised, “Mates? Like friends or… I mean, I barely know you and I’m not into guys. No offense. I mean, I won’t lie if I was you’d be the goal I aimed for, but I have this whole thing for hopelessly unattainable strawberry blondes-“

Stiles continued to babble while the banshee rolled her eyes dramatically and Derek saw red.

“I suggest you give up on her,” Derek growled out, eyes flashing blue as his teeth slid out and his claws dug into his folded arms, “Straight or not, if I can’t have you no one can.”

Stiles looked surprised and uncomfortable, “Dude. That’s some serial killer shit right there.”

“Stiles, stop,” Scott spat out.

“Dude, he just-“

“ _Stiles_ , just shut up, okay?” Scott replied, and the panic in his voice had even Derek glancing aside at his mother.

Talia Hale was showing her brooding face, which most people assumed the Hale children got from their father right up until she displayed it. She was studying Stiles with one long, clawed finger tapping against her cheek. When Stiles saw it he shifted back a bit and gave Scott a worried look. They were out of their territory, vulnerable, Stiles was new to his studies and Scott was still recovering from multiple battles with the Alpha Pack. Deucalion was alive out there somewhere, a continued threat who Talia had to take into consideration.

However, more important to her were her children and Derek had been a relationship disaster since his childhood when he’d unwittingly gotten his first love murdered. He’d sworn off of love after that point, and scorned any who approached him. He also refused to seek out his Mate, something that broke Talia’s romantic heart. Her son was sad and quiet, not the happy, frolicking cub she had raised. Derek had never recovered from Paige’s death; Stiles’ rejection could end him as fast as an Alpha’s claws.

“I will agree to a merger of our packs under one condition: Stiles will belong to Derek.”

“What?” Scott gave them a shocked look, “No way! That’s like, slavery! It’s not even legal!”

“We don’t mean it that way,” Derek stated softly, “Born wolves see these things differently. Think of it as marriage.”

“You still can’t buy a merger with a _person_!” Scott replied, voice cracking like a teenager’s.

“If you think about it,” Talia stated while Derek took in Stiles’ stunned face, “You’re essentially negotiating your _pack’s_ safety, which means you’re already dealing in werewolf life… and human and banshee. I’m offering you a way to resolve this that costs you nothing. Stiles will still be your friend. Your pack will be our pack, so he won’t stop being your druid. He’ll be free to walk about and attend his studies… I assume you’re going to college?”

Stiles nodded, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. Derek wanted to do things to his mouth. So many things.

“I… I have a girlfriend,” Stiles’ stammered.

Derek growled and Talia’s hand restrained him from leaping forward to start scent marking Stiles.

“It’s best if you abandon… the distraction,” Talia stated carefully, “Now that Derek has your scent he’ll only end up killing her to get to you. Break it off quickly, and without being in her presence. It’s the kindest thing you can do.”

“ _That’s_ kind?” Stiles spat out, “It sounds like the kind of thing Ask Abby would call me an asshole for doing!”

“You’re his Mate, Stiles,” Talia stated firmly, “Honestly there’s no choice in the matter. I’m throwing in a merger because it’s gracious and I deplore hostility, but at the end of the day you _will_ be his.”

“No,” Scott growled, standing up slowly as his eyes began to glow red, “He won’t.”

“I’ll do it,” Stiles spoke up softly from his side.


	2. Chapter 2

“Like hell you will!” Scott spat out.

“Dude, they’re already treating me like furniture at a yard sale. Don’t you do it, too. Okay?”

“Stiles, he’s looking at you like you’re a hunk of _meat_ , not a dresser!”

“Excuse you, I am a flat screen TV,” Stiles replied, giving Scott a wounded look.

Derek chortled and the _entire Hale pack_ turned and gave him a shocked look.

“I’ll proved you with protection,” Talia Hale spat out, tone desperate, “A guard until Deucalion is neutralized.”

“Deucalion _is_ neutralized,” Scott replied, “We came to an understanding. That’s not why we’re here, and we’re definitely not here to pimp out my best friend. We’re worried about looking weak now that-”

“And for the record,” Derek interrupted, “Meat is a bit off the mark, too.”

“Yeah, he’s looking at me like I’m porn,” Stiles snorted, rolling his eyes, “Fluffy soft-core porn, but still. Porn.”

“Was that a fur joke?” Derek asked, eyes narrowing.

“Maybe,” Stiles asked, mimicking his severe expression, “Can you take a joke the way you expect me to take a dick?”

Scott was staring at Stiles with something akin to absolute horror but Derek was doing his damndest to smother a smile. Talia Hale was glancing between the two with eyes wide with shock and finally just directed her conversation to Stiles.

“Well, we can see who the brains are,” Talia nodded, “Stiles, why don’t _you_ negotiate for your pack.”

“That’s better,” Stiles nodded, as if he’d been waiting for some kind of acknowledgement.

“No it isn’t!” Scott wailed, sounding petulant, “I’m the Alpha!”

“It’s cool, buddy, I got this,” Stiles patted his arm and Derek barked out a snarl, “You have me handle this shit all the time.”

“That’s different! That’s with humans!”

“So?” Stiles shrugged, “They want to talk to me.”

“They want to make werewolf babies with you!” Scott whined.

“That’s great!” Stiles replied, only his eyes betraying his internal panic, “I totally love kids!”

“I want concessions,” Scott replied to Talia, standing and edging in front of Stiles, “A merger, but that dude there can’t touch Stiles without his permission.”

“That _dude_ is Derek Hale,” Stiles huffed, giving lie to his earlier statement about not knowing who he was. Derek mentally noted that Stiles Stilinsky could _lie_ to werewolves. _Fascinating._

“We aren’t _rapists_ ,” Talia snarled, looking offended, “But if that’s your only concession…”

“No, it’s not,” Scott replied, then visibly struggled, “Uh… Stiles? What are the rest of my concessions?”

Stiles groaned, “Sit down before you hurt yourself.”

Scott’s eyes flashed red and he turned sharp features on Stiles, who backed down with a surprised look, his head tilting to one side to show submission.

“Dude. Okay. Sorry. Wow.”

“Stiles, this _isn’t a joke_ ,” Scott growled, “They’re asking for your future! Oh! Future! Stiles finishes college before babies are made.”

Derek nodded, “Education is important. I wouldn’t want a stupid Mate.”

“How exactly would babies be made?” Stiles asked, voice cracking in alarm.

“He doesn’t have to take the bite,” Scott spat out, “It has to be his decision.”

A soft chortle went through the crowd and Derek rolled his eyes, “He’s a druid. They can’t take the bite. Their magic fights it off. He’d end up violently ill for a week and then burn it out of his system. As for babies, we’d have to adopt since Stiles can’t take the bite or I’d have to carry them.”

“One more concession,” Talia stated softly, “Let’s be frank, Alpha McCall, you need this merger to keep your homes in the human half of Beacon Hills. They’ll run you out after all the trouble you’ve caused if you aren’t aligned with me. So unless you’d like to come here as refugees instead of an envoy…”

“Stiles, what’s important to you? Spit it out! Without your inane babble,” Scott growled.

“My babble is _not_ inane!” Stiles snapped, “Fine. I get to date women since I’m _not gay_.”

“No,” Derek growled, “I’ll kill anyone who touches you.”

Scott shifted a bit further from Stiles who looked furious, “You can’t just condemn me to a life of celibacy!”

“You can always refuse,” Scott told him.

“He really can’t,” Derek replied coldly.

“I’m liking you less and less the more this continues,” Stiles told Derek.

“I’ll get over it,” Derek replied dryly, but rolled his eyes, “I’ll allow you to look at porn.”

“Oh, how fucking sweet of you!” Stiles snarled, “Here that, Scott? He won’t limit my spank material!”

“You’re the one who-“ Scott started in, but Talia reigned them all in again.

“What about a bit of a comfort clause?” Talia asked, “If Stiles is feeling smothered he can visit you, Scott. He should have a friend to lean on in the next few months while he adjusts to life with my son. Just don’t abuse it because Derek _will_ come and fetch you.”

“That’s… good, actually,” Scott nodded, “Stiles?”

“Yeah, I’m good. As good as I’ll get. Do I get my parachute pants here, or will they be shipped to my new address in Derek’s dungeon?”

“Parachute pants?” Half the room questioned.

“I Dream of Genie? None of you watch older TV shows? Really?”

“We’ll talk kinky outfits later,” Derek replied dryly, and ignored his father’s smack to the back of his head.

“Go on, Derek. Collect him.”

“See, Scott,” Stiles grinned at his friend, “He’s collecting me! I’m not a TV, I’m a butterfly!”

“I’ll avoid jokes about pinning you to anything,” Derek stated as he stepped forward to grip Stiles’ upper arm, “Considering your Alpha’s on edge.”

“Shame,” Stiles sighed, “Sounds like that would have been a good one. Wait, is Scott still my Alpha?”

“Allegiances can be earned, not bartered,” Talia replied, “In time you’ll see me as your Alpha, as will Scott, but he is still an Alpha in his own right and will likely always be yours.”

“As will you,” Derek purred, pulling Stiles to his side and shoving him into the chair Derek had been ignoring the entire time, “You’ll see me as yours, too.”

“Right,” Stiles replied, the humor draining out of him. Derek’s fingers curled over the back of the chair which he stood behind with his shoulder’s squared, glancing around at his pack with a proud look on his face as if he’d won Stiles in some glorious battle.

Scott gave them worried looks as Talia brought out the paperwork for a proper merger and went over the details with Scott. When Stiles’ former pack left it was with a few anxious backward glances while Stiles became more and more pale. Reality was setting in and he was being left in the lion’s den, so to speak, with nothing to protect him but a few promises now that Scott was gone.

P.S. Derek’s dad is totally Gibbs from NCIS. I don’t know how it happened but I’m never looking back. /cackles and runs into the distance/


	3. Chapter 3

Scott returned home with his head hung. Isaac had to drive because Scott sat himself down in the passenger seat and started whimpering like a puppy. Lydia tried to say a few comforting words that decidedly _weren’t_ , but overall no one spoke and she eventually drifted off. They’d had to cram all into Lydia’s mom’s vehicle because they’d left Stiles’ jeep behind without even considering it. Now they piled out, stretching legs and glancing around in concern, and followed Scott into his house where he flopped down on a chair and looked up at them with wide, wounded eyes.

“How am I going to tell his _dad_?” Scott asked, voice cracking, “He told me to protect Stiles. He made me promise. What the hell do I say now?”

“Blame the Hales?” Isaac suggested.

“I can’t believe this happened,” Scott replied, “I went there for _help_ , and now…”

Scott put a hand over his mouth and Isaac slid into his lap, pulling his Alpha’s face into his neck. Scott breathed in his scent and let out a soft sob, the weight of the last few days finally coming crashing down. Scott’s pack was mostly made up of omegas that had wandered in and asked for his protection. Deucalion’s minions, who had forced Liam down on Scott’s claws to initiate him into their damn Alpha pack, had killed the only one he had turned himself. Scott had howled and wept for his little ‘brother’ for days and now he had lost his best friend as well. Isaac was at a loss to comfort him and even Jackson looked as if he felt bad for Scott.

XXX

Derek woke up and rolled over, nuzzling the hair of his Mate before stretching and sitting up. Stiles was curled up on Derek’s pillow like a cat. He’d been so terrified of Derek by the time they’d gotten back to his loft that when Derek had herded him in he’d hidden behind the couch, realized that was useless, hidden in the kitchen, realized that was pointless, and then finally gone on the bed while babbling that Derek wasn’t allowed to touch him without his permission. Derek had snorted at his actions and sat down on the couch to watch TV. He was trying to give Stiles room to relax. The terrified young man had curled up on Derek’s pillow and laid there shaking in fear until exhaustion had claimed him. Now he was finally uncurling and realizing Derek had slept beside him all night. His popping bones and strained muscles were the only thing that kept him from fleeing. As it was, he gave an undignified squawk of terror and fell off the other side of the bed. Derek leaned over to raise an eyebrow in question.

“No, I’m not okay!” Stiles snapped at him, “I have to pee and my legs don’t work!”

“You want help?” Derek asked.

“No!” Stiles croaked, struggling upright and limping off to the bathroom. He opened the closet door instead, “What the hell is this place, a factory? This closet is the size of a bedroom, why isn’t your bed in here?”

“Because then I’d have no closet space,” Derek huffed, “And it’s _barely_ big enough for a bed.”

“For a huge sex bed like yours, maybe, but normal single people sleep on smaller beds.”

“Not ones that like to wake up able to walk,” Derek pointed out.

“Oh, yeah, judge your terrified and injured Mate.”

Derek’s werewolf rolled over and wiggled happily, but he mentally squashed the response his body and mind had to hearing Stiles call himself Derek’s Mate. His hysteria the night before showed how very _not_ ready he was for anything of the sort.

“Seeing as how I didn’t spend the night raping you, maybe you could chill the fuck out?” Derek huffed.

“According to you, there will be a lifetime of nights to change that!” Stiles spat out.

“You agreed to this!”

“I had _no choice!_ ” Stiles snarled, “And I’m going to spend the rest of our lives making you regret that!”

Derek rolled his eyes and groaned, fully aware that Stiles could do that rather easily and seemed the kind of guy to devote himself to just such an activity, “You know, this could be a good thing? You might find you like me. A lot.”

“Doubtful.”

“We were practically flirting at my mom’s house.”

“You were flirting?” Stiles asked, putting a hand to his chest in shock, “Damn. Good thing you thought I was flirting back, or you might have just clubbed me and dragged me off by my hair!”

“I thought you had to pee?” Derek scowled.

“Fuck!” Stiles crossed his legs and grabbed his crotch, bouncing like an excitable puppy, “Don’t remind me! Where the hell is your-“

Derek pointed and Stiles hobbled over and fled into the safety of his bathroom. Derek shamelessly listened in and chortled to hear that Stiles sat down to pee. He probably didn’t trust himself to stand after holding it all night long.

“Oh, dear _god_ ,” Stiles moaned, “Why is it when you hold pee for so long it feels like cumming when you let it out?”

Derek swallowed hard and hurried to the kitchen to start breakfast rather than let himself dwell on what he’d like to do to Stiles after hearing that. When Stiles emerged, looking less rumpled and grouchy now that he’d relieved himself, Derek took a moment to do the same and then came back out to finish breakfast. Stiles was sitting on the couch looking dejectedly at his phone.

“Do you have an Android charger? I never called my dad last night and he’s probably freaking out.”

“Wouldn’t Scott take care of that?”

“Yeah, but I’m a cop’s kid. They don’t believe it’s okay until you talk to them personally.”

Derek went through the cords in that damn drawer in his kitchen that contained random shit from menus to dead batteries. He moved to toss Stiles a cable and then paused, seeing him still sitting there looking miserable. He walked over and handed it to him instead, holding his hand to press the cord into it.

“Listen, if hearing from you works than seeing you will work better. Besides, I should meet your dad. I’m basically his son in law now.”

“My jeep…” Stiles muttered.

“Jake and his mate promised to drive it over last night. I’m sure it’s downstairs. C’mon.”

“Fine,” Stiles stood up from the couch slowly, scratching at his chest, “I need clean clothes anyway. Much as I’d love to keep you away from me by sheer magnitude of bodily stench, I need to be able to live with myself, too.”

Derek snorted and walked to his closet to get dressed. He pulled out several of his shirts, chose one of his nicer Henley’s, and pulled out a second for Stiles. He doubted his pants would fit him, but he grabbed some boxers and socks so he could at least be more comfortable. He turned and placed them on the couch where Stiles stared at them awkwardly while Derek began to change by the bed. Stiles watched him in silence and Derek flexed to show himself off.

Stiles snorted, “What’s with the tattoo?”

“It means Alpha, Beta, Omega,” Derek replied, “It’s a triskelion.”

“Scott got one done. Something about how his Alpha relates to the world. It’s pretty lame.”

“Hm,” Derek shrugged, “Going to change?”

“No, I’ll wait the approximately twenty minutes that it will take for me to get my own clothes.”

Derek frowned, “It would help my wolf stay calm if you smell like me. Since you wouldn’t let me _touch you_ all night, clothes are the next best bet.”

“Why,” Stiles asked, glaring at Derek, “What are you going to do to my dad?”

“Nothing,” Derek replied, “He’s your _dad_. I’m not going to be territorial about him, but I’m assuming you’ll want to see your friends or they might even be there. I have to have a way to lay claim to you.”

“Yeah, well I’m my own guy. That ever occur to you?” Stiles snapped, glaring at him angrily as he stripped off his shirt.

Derek’s eyebrow rose. Something else started to rise as well.

“I’m not going to stop you from being you,” Derek replied, “But you’re also my Mate. That’s a part of who you are even if you don’t want to acknowledge it yet.”

“I’m _not_ going to acknowledge it,” Stiles snapped, shoving his jeans down with his boxer briefs still tangled, “Ever. Do you know why? Because I did this for _my pack_. You, on the other hand, took me from everything and everyone I love _for yourself_.”

Derek was having trouble focusing. Stiles’ cock might be limp, but it was still beautiful. It was a slim two inches long, nestled in dark hair that Stiles clearly had been experimenting with manscaping on. It was currently trimmed into the shape of a diamond beneath his belly button, with his happy trail carefully sculpted into a solid line. It was probably very rough since it was cut so low. Derek was just picturing rubbing his lips along it when Stiles blocked his view with Derek’s shirt.

“Dude?! What the fuck!” Stiles shouted, “Dude, could you, like, _stop ogling me_?!”

“Not really,” Derek replied, adjusting his erection beneath his trousers, “A diamond, huh?”

“I’m a diamond in the rough,” Stiles huffed.

Derek smirked, “I bet.”

Stiles faltered, “What?”

“I said, ‘I bet’. Humans have poor hearing, huh?”

“Yeah, but… Um… Okay, so… dude, just… keep it to yourself, okay?” Stiles pulled Derek’s boxers on while attempting to keep his shirt pulled down low. He wriggled into his pants while Derek continued to watch in disappointment.

Derek sighed and led the way downstairs to where Stiles’ jeep was parked. The door was unlocked with the key under the mat so Stiles sat down and started it up, almost driving off before Derek could slide into the passenger side. Derek gave him a glare that he ignored, and Stiles drove far too fast on his way home. When they got there he bolted from his jeep for the house, shouting for his father who met him at the door and snatched him into a fierce hug.

“I talked to a lawyer. I talked to half the damn station. It’s hopeless,” His father grumbled into Stiles’ hair.

“I know,” Stiles sighed, “There’s a reason the law protects them. It’s a Mate thing. Wolves go feral if they’re denied their Mate. He’d end up killing someone, probably someone I care about but maybe strangers, too. You remember how Scott was bitten? Same issue. His Mate had cheated on him and he caught him. The wolf had to be put down.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Sheriff Stilinky huffed, stepping back, “I had escort his family out of the court room when they decided to put him on death row.”

Derek stepped forward before the conversation got any worse than it already was.

“Sheriff,” Derek cleared his throat and put out his hand, “I’d just like to-“

“Did he hurt you?” John asked, eyes narrowed at Derek and hand flying to the glock on his hip.

“No, dad,” Stiles sighed, “Not yet, anyway.”

“Good, because I’m not opposed to a jail sentence for myself, either.”

That being said, both Stilinsky men turned together, walked into the house, and slammed the door in Derek’s face.

“Well,” Derek sighed, “That went well.”


	4. Chapter 4

Scott pulled his cycle into the driveway behind Stiles’ jeep, gave Derek a glare where he was leaning against the vehicle, and then let out a heavy sigh.

“Hey,” Scott stated.

“Hi,” Derek stated, eyebrows lifting in surprise.

“Look, I just wanted to say… I’ll try to be civil with you, but if you hurt him in _any_ way I’ll kill you.”

Scott huffed, “Yeah, his dad already mentioned, but I thought another _werewolf_ would get this. I know you’re turned, but don’t you get that this is supposed to be a beautiful thing? So few werewolves ever meet their Mate. If they do, it’s not always this young. Stiles and I should be joyfully celebrating-“

Scott gave Derek a disgusted look and stomped towards the house, letting himself in with his key. He found Stiles sitting mournfully in a chair with his dad sitting on the couch. They were watching football. Scott knew Stiles hated football, but he loved to watch anything with his dad so the look of misery was likely due to Derek.

“Dude,” Scott sat on the arm of the chair, “You okay?”

“My youth is over, Scott,” Stiles sighed, “No longer will I frolic amongst the soft flesh of a woman’s ample bosom.”

“Have you _ever_ done that?” Scott asked in confusion.

“Kick me while I’m down, why don’t you?” Stiles huffed.

“How about I tell you I think I know a way out of this?” Scott asked, smiling a bit.

“You mock my p- wait, what?” Stiles’ head shot up and he gave Scott a hopeful look.

“What way?” John asked, “Is it illegal? Because if that’s the case I want you to know I’m fully on board.”

“Actually it’s the opposite,” Scott grinned, “See, you can dispute this whole thing! Lydia pointed it out, and Derek said it just now, so even _he_ knows something’s not right.”

Derek chose that moment to barge in, eyes narrowed at them, “You made a deal. You signed a contract. Stiles is my Mate.”

“Except he’s not feeling it, is he?” Scott grinned, standing up, “You just said that you didn’t know why no one was celebrating, right?”

“Because you’re all being unreasonable!” Derek snapped.

“My body just got traded, and it wasn’t even for the traditional _goats_ ,” Stiles snapped, “Why are you expecting a good reaction from this?!”

“Goats would have made it better?” Scott asked, once again baffled by Stiles’ words.

“You’re my Mate,” Derek groaned, rolling his eyes dramatically, “This is a _good thing_.”

“Not for _me_!” Stiles shouted, hands flailing angrily.

“There!” Scott pointed at Stiles, “That’s what I’m talking about! Stiles _isn’t feeling it_. If he was your Mate he should feel the pull! So he’s not!”

“Yes, he is,” Derek growled, “He’s just… just…”

“No,” Scott replied, “He’s not. He’s _not_ feeling it.

Derek’s eyes flashed blue and he growled low in his throat.

“I will _not_ be rejected!” Derek roared.

Stiles was out of his seat and across the room in an instant, crowding against Derek and stopping Scott from launching himself at the enraged beta. He petted his shoulders and caught at his hands, trying to stop Derek from feeling rejected.

“Easy, sourwolf,” Stiles soothed, pressing close and pushing his arms down so he couldn’t launch over him at Scott, “Easy, big guy. Nobody’s rejecting anybody.”

“He’s trying to-“

“He’s not. It’s fine. Shh, it’s okay,” Stiles soothed, rubbing at his shoulder gently until Derek’s heaving breaths calmed and his eyes faded back to his normal color.

“We’re leaving,” Derek growled, still glaring at Scott.

“I haven’t packed yet and-“ Stiles started.

Derek growled in frustration, grabbed Stiles’ hand, and dragged him up to his room. Scott sat down and explained to Stiles’ father about how Mates reacted to each other while Stiles packed. After about thirty minutes Stiles came down the steps, but Scott froze rather than re-start their conversation. Stiles was _staring at Derek’s ass_! He was watching the wolf as he carried two boxes and Stiles’ away bag full of things out the door and he was completely absorbed. Stunned, Scott didn’t react until after Stiles was out the door.

“What were you saying about Stiles not being into him?” John asked dryly.

“But… but…”

“Son,” John sighed, “Pretending things are going Stiles’ way- or the way he thinks they should- is the easiest way to get him to _not_ spaz out so he accepts things faster. He’s an anxious mess. It’s what he does best.”

“You didn’t see him yesterday. He was… we were…”

John shook his head, “Stiles isn’t straight, Scott. Never has been.”

“Yeah, I know, but-”

“You’ve got a Mate, right?”

“Well, yeah. Isaac’s my Mate, but-“

“So he has no chance with you.”

“Well… wait, what?”

“So let him figure this out with Derek. It might be good for him. The guy can’t touch him against his will, so…”

Scott gave Stiles’ dad a betrayed look and then hurried out to his car, getting in and texting Stiles furiously. He didn’t respond for a while, but Scott knew he’d be driving so he waited.

_McWolf: Were you just ogling Derek’s ass?!_

_Stiles: What? No! I was wondering why your muscles were so puny compared to his._

_McWolf: Sure you were, dude._

_McWolf: Hey, if you’re into him it’s good, okay? In fact, it’s great. You should get to know him better and maybe you’ll be happy like Isaac and I are._

_Stiles: I’m not into him._

_McWolf: Do you think he’s your Mate?_

_Stiles: No, dude. I like WOMEN. You know, the ones with boobs and in-holes?_

_McWolf: Guys have in-holes, too._

_Stiles: No offense, bro, but those aren’t in-holes. Those are a-holes._

_McWolf: I hate you sometimes. Are you forgetting I’m gay?_

_Stiles: You just can’t handle my honesty._

_McWolf: Explain the prostate._

_Stiles: Semen production._

_McWolf: Explain why it feels good?_

_Stiles: No idea. I have never experienced that and never will._

_McWolf: Dude, just… what the hell?_

_Stiles: You know I don’t mean it. I’m fine with you liking the D, I just don’t, and right now I have a big D trying to get his paws on my A and it’s freaking me out._

_McWolf: Yeah, but if he’s NOT your Mate, than you CAN fight this._

_Stiles: And have him go crazy and kill people? No way. I’ll deal. I’ve got a plan._

_McWolf: I hope it’s a good one._

_Stiles: Scott, it’s me. Of course it’s a good one._

XXX

Stiles set up his television and game system on top of a crate in Derek’s living room. The beta seemed content now that they were back; he was sitting on the couch watching Stiles make himself at home with a contemplative look on his face.

“He’s wrong, you know,” Derek stated firmly.

“Mm-hm,” Stiles muttered, connecting the last of the cables and grinning as his system turned on, “Fantastic! What’s your wifi password.”

“I haven’t got wifi,” Stiles turned to give Derek a horrified look and the werewolf immediately looked contrite, “I’ll call to have service hooked up. We can go to a library to use theirs if you need it now.”

Stiles shook his head, “I’ll make due with a hotspot from my phone. It done charging?”

Derek pointed at the counter and Stiles scampered over to get it.

“He’s wrong,” Derek insisted, standing and following him into the kitchen, “What’s a hotspot?”

“It’s a temporary wifi signal, but it uses up data hardcore.”

“Okay, right,” Derek nodded, “He’s _wrong.”_

“You mentioned,” Stiles replied, looking up from his phone for a moment, “You mentioned me smelling like you would help, right?”

“Yes.”

“Would it help me, too?”

“Yes,” Derek nodded, “But your nose doesn’t work like mine does. Me wearing your clothes wouldn’t be a strong enough association.”

“Which is why you wanted to snuggle in bed like a couple of puppies.”

“Exactly,” Derek nodded, “The best way is after sex, but I’m guessing you’re still freaked out about being with a guy.”

“Why after sex?” Stiles frowned, and then his face lit up, “Oh! Because I’d associate you with pleasure, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So mating is like… a sort of behavior technique.”

“No,” Derek scowled.

“Riiiight, so why don’t I snuggle up with you while I play games, eh? You just promise not to do anything weird, okay?”

“Define weird,” Derek asked with a derisive glare, “Because I have a feeling we have _very_ different definitions.”

“You’re a ray of sunshine, you know that?” Stiles grumbled.

“Just get over here,” Derek sighed.

Stiles stood up and hurried over, tucking his feet under himself as he pressed against Derek’s side. Derek slung his arm around Stiles’ shoulders and leaned in to breath in his hair. Stiles squirmed, elbowing Derek multiple times, but he never complained and eventually Stiles gave up on Plan A and began to play his game. Derek nuzzled behind his ear on occasion, his breath hot on Stiles’ neck and making him fidget anew. After a half an hour Derek got up and Stiles grinned to himself, sure he’d finally pointed out one of his flaws to the stubborn wolf, but Derek returned with a book and resumed their position, letting Stiles flop around until he was comfortable with his feet in Derek’s lap.

“You’re too far away, come closer,” Derek growled.

Stiles grumbled and flipped over, putting his head in his lap instead. Derek’s scent was strong here, his maleness close by Stiles’ head, but he tried to put that out of his mind as he took on a boss. Derek read for an hour like that, stroking Stiles’ hair and occasionally making noises in his throat as he reacted to the book. It piqued Stiles curiousity so he finally asked about it.

“It’s called “The Princess Bride”, it’s about-“

“I know what it’s about, I saw the movie.”

Derek snorted.

“What?” Stiles asked.

“The book was better.”

“Lies.”

“Truth.”

“Lies and insinuations.”

“Inconceivable.”

“You keep saying that word, I don’t think it means what you think it means.”

“You don’t even _know_ about the other prettiest girls.”

“What prettiest girls?” Stiles asked.

Derek’s mouth twitched and Stiles’ eyes narrowed.

 _“What_ prettiest girls?”

“Or the bald one.”

“What bald one?” Stiles laughed.

“Or the spider.”

“Every story has a spider. Spiders don’t scare me.”

“Or the different layers to the Pit of Despair.”

“What layers?!” Stiles asked, watching his character die and not caring overmuch.

“Or Buttercup’s baby.”

“WHAT BABY?!” Stiles squealed, dropping his controller and sitting up to plant both hands on Derek’s thighs and lean into his face.

“Lie back down, and I’ll tell you,” Derek replied, a smug smile on his face, “But first turn that annoying thing off. You’ve been playing for hours. Time to exercise a _different_ part of your brain.”

“Hmph,” Stiles replied, heading over to turn it off and then flopping down on the couch on his back this time, “Fine, but only because you acknowledged that it _does_ exercise parts of my brain.”

“Ahem- ‘This is my favorite book, though I have never read it’.”

“You were _just_ reading it,” Stiles frowned, “And you know most of it, if not all-“

“No, dumbass, that’s the opening line. The author fake-abridged it, pretending he was abridging a classic book that had never actually existed all to plump up his work. The whole book is one long joke where he critiques his own work.”

“That’s fucking brilliant. Okay. Go.”

Derek smiled and settled back more on the sofa to read while Stiles stared up at him in surprise. He was… handsome when he wasn’t brooding or scowling. He was handsome both ways, of course, because he was fucking ridiculous, but he was _strikingly_ handsome when he was smiling.

 _Uh oh_ , Stiles thought, _This could get weird fast._


	5. Chapter 5

Stiles and Derek climbed into bed together this time, without the histrionics of the night before. Stiles still reeked of nerves and was clearly uncomfortable with their situation, but this time he at least had his own clothes and pillow. He snuggled down into Derek’s bed with a sigh and a yawn. Derek lay across from him, keeping a good foot of space between even their knees while they studied each other in silence. Then Derek turned and shut off the lamp, leaving them in the dark.

“Can you see me?” Stiles stage whispered.

“Yes,” Derek snorted.

“Do I look weird in the dark?”

“Different. Not weird. Less defined.”

“Do you think I’m attractive?” Stiles whispered softly.

Derek snorted, “Being able to see you clearly isn’t going to change anything.”

Stiles was silent and Derek could practically hear his wheels turning.

“If you don’t find me attractive, than why are you so intent on keeping me?” Stiles asked, his voice filled with hurt.

“What?” Derek asked, completely confused by the sudden turn in the conversation, “Who said anything about _not_ finding you attractive? Stiles, I’ve never found anyone more attractive in my life.”

“But I’m… I thought…”

“You’re my Mate,” Derek sighed, “You could be covered in third degree burns and I’d still lust after you.”

“Ow. Carefully and with protective gear to avoid infection, I hope,” Stiles replied with widening eyes.

Derek chuckled and Stiles smiled a bit. Derek swallowed down his reservations and decided to just ask Stiles for his permission.

“Stiles, I’d like to hold you for a bit. Nothing sexual. Just wrapping my arms around you while we sleep. Will you let me?”

Stiles hesitated, biting the inside of his cheek and then sighing, “Yeah. Okay. I mean, we have to get used to this and-“

Derek pounced before Stiles could finish his sentence, resulting in the young man yelping in surprise. Derek had his face buried in Stiles’ neck where he was breathing in his scent and nuzzling him hungrily.

“Ow! Ow! Stubble, dude! Do you _ever_ shave?!”

Derek ducked his head and rubbed the top of it instead, resulting in a giggle fit of gorgeous proportions. He dug his fingers into Stiles’ sides and the young man flailed helplessly. As often happened with tickle attacks, it ended with Stiles nailing Derek in the nose with his elbow. Derek retreated to a safe distance, laughing happily despite the painful strike to a sensitive area. Stiles turned on the light.

“Dude, are you okay?”

“Fine,” Derek chuckled, moving closer and holding up a hand when Stiles retreated, “No more tickling. I promise. I just needed to scent you and it got out of hand. Swear.”

“Okay, buster,” Stiles glared at him, “But I won’t go so easy on you next time.”

“I fear for my cartilage,” Derek deadpanned, snuggling up against Stiles again.

For a few minutes they struggled to find a comfortable position until Stiles finally relented and let Derek spoon him- but only after threat of death. Once they assumed the position Stiles was stiff as a board for a few minutes until Derek’s gentle petting of his upper arm got him to relax.

“Actually… this is kinda nice,” Stiles said softly, “Yeah, warm. Cozy. You smell good. I’m… okay.”

“You smell good, too,” Derek smiled against his shoulder as his wolf wriggled in pleasure inside his head. Smell was important to wolves, so telling Derek he smelled good was akin to Derek telling Stiles he found him attractive.

It took ages for Derek to fall asleep. He lay awake admiring his Mate long after Stiles began to snore softly, wishing he could press kisses to every inch of his body. He smothered the whine of longing that wanted to crawl up his chest and forced himself to close his eyes.

XXX

Stiles woke up to an odd rocking feeling and something prodding his ass. After a moment of drowsy confusion he slowly realized what it was and stiffened in alarm. An hand grazed over his chest, the grasp possessive, and Derek let out a low growl behind him. Stiles instantly began to panic, his breath coming fast as he turned his head, hoping to plead with Derek to stop… only to see that he was soundly asleep. The panic attack Stiles was heading for stopped dead and he gave an amused snort. Well, at least he only had to wake Derek up to get him to stop! Except, now that Stiles realize he wasn’t about to be raped he was much less concerned. Derek was adorably snuffling his neck, moaning low as he rutted against him with sleepy, uneven thrusts. Stiles stroked the back of one hand and Derek cooed happily.

“Stiiiles,” He sighed out.

Stiles felt a tingling sensation run up his spine and he arched his back in shock at the feeling. The unintentional movement pressed his ass firmly against Derek’s crotch and he grunted awake.

“Hm?” Derek huffed out, rubbing firmly and then suddenly stilling, “Wha? Oh _fuck!”_

Derek pulled away from Stiles so fast that he tangled in the blankets and fell backwards over the other side of the bed onto the floor. Stiles turned and crawled to the edge, peering over at a disheveled and deeply flushed werewolf.

“I’m so sorry!” Derek burst out, staring up at Stiles with wide eyes, “I swear I was asleep. I’d _never_ have done that without your permission.”

Stiles frowned, but nodded, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Derek grumbled, untangling his legs from the blankets, “I only wounded my pride.”

“A mortal wound indeed,” Stiles stated gravely.

Derek stood up and hurried to the bathroom, his walk awkward. Stiles didn’t bother to ask where he was going, although the temptation to tease him was rather great. He wasn’t sure what the reception would be so he bit his tongue.

XXX

Derek walked into the bathroom, shut the door, and staggered into the shower with shaking hands. He didn’t bother to completely undress; he just pulled his boxers down, gripped his dick, and savagely jerked himself off while breathing in Stiles’ scent from his body. His hand was dry and it burned a bit, but it was worth it to get himself off quickly.

Except he couldn’t manage to climax. He was hovering on the edge, his balls tight and his teeth clenched while he fondled his tight sack and rubbed his taint. He licked his hand quickly and moved to a more steady stroke, but he feared he’d overstimulated himself. He was just starting to get to the point where he was ready to give up when he felt himself begin to harden further. It took him a moment of eager stroking before the bulge became noticeable and he groaned in shock.

His knot had come in. Wolves only knotted with their Mates and Derek’s body was ready to breed so he would have to knot his damn hand to get off! Derek took a deep breath and began to massage the knot with one hand, fumbling through it as he tried to figure out what would work. He wasn’t used to his body acting up this way and had only learned about knots through his father during ‘the talk’. He’d always assumed Paige had been his Mate so he’d never get a knot so he hadn’t paid much attention. Now it was like masturbating for the first time again. He finally found the motions that worked and teased the head of his cock with one hand while the other continued a rolling grip on his knot.

Derek slammed a hand into the wall and panted through a hard release, his legs clenching as he painted the wall. When he was finally able to breath again he laid his sweating forehead against the cold tile and let a single, miserable whine free. The knot was still throbbing, his cock dark and swollen and likely to stay that way for a while. He gave the knot another experimental squeeze and his eyes practically crossed as he came again with a barely smothered grunt.

He was still hard. Of course. It would probably be a while before he came down. Derek gave up and started the shower.

 _This is torture_.


	6. Chapter 6

TAG CHANGE WARNING: I added Derek/Void Stiles and past Malia/Stiles. I had no idea my muse would go there.

Stiles set up his computer the next morning, informed Derek that he was going to work, stuck on a set of headphones, cranked up some seriously angry music, and proceeded to ignore Derek for the next three hours. Derek watched him for a while and then decided his time was better spent doing a bit of organizing so Stiles would have room to move in properly. He headed to a store and ordered some furnishings that could hold Stiles’ things. He figured Stiles would bring the stuff from his own bedroom and Derek mentally tallied up what he’d seen to make sure he didn’t duplicate it. When he returned to the loft Stiles glanced over at him, then did a double take and pulled off his headphones.

“Dude. What are you doing with all those pillows and blankets?” Stiles gaped at him.

Derek gave him a startled look and then glanced down at the multiple larve bags he was carrying, realizing he had mostly bought down filled blankets and pillows of various sizes and shapes. Derek scowled angrily and threw them down onto the floor, stomping off to the kitchen to look for something to eat.

“Soooo…” Stiles tried, “Am I getting my own bed?”

“No!” Derek snapped.

“Okay Sour Wolf, geez. So why did you buy them, then?”

Derek huffed in frustration, “Because I’m nesting.”

“You’re what?” Stiles chuckled.

“Nesting.”

“You’re… a werebird?”

“I’m a wolf,” Derek snapped, eyes flashing angrily as he glared at his Mate, “whose Mate isn’t accepting him! I’m _nesting_ to show you that I can provide for you. Be grateful I only went to a households store. If I’d gone to a grocery store I’d have returned with a few thousand steaks.”

The doorbell took that moment to ring and Derek winced. Stiles grinned gleefully.

“Tell me that’s take out.”

Derek growled low while Stiles skipped to the door to open it.

“Seven large pizzas, three liters of coke, and four orders of cinnamon buns?” The guy asked.

Stiles cackled as if he had struck gold, hopping up and down and clapping his hands, “Oh, this is _rich!_ Wait till I tell Scott! You’re _adorable!”_

A smirk spread over Derek’s face, “You’re welcome to tell Scott that I’m adorable any time you want.”

Stiles stuck his tongue out at Derek, “Come and pay for my feast, husband.”

Derek shuddered, Stiles’ taunting words going straight to his hindbrain, which immediately sent the blood pumping towards his cock with the same incorrect assumption. Derek swallowed, wishing he’d worn something lighter since his entire body felt overheated. He walked awkwardly to the door and paid the pizza guy, noting that he was a werewolf as he did so. The wolf gave him a pitying glance and Derek felt oddly grateful for the moment of solidarity. He tipped him well, took the food, and shut the door behind him with a loud clang.

“Seeing as how you managed to order enough for a small pack, do you mind if I invite mine?” Stiles asked, pulling out his phone.

“No!” Derek snarled.

Stiles stilled, his delighted expression shuttering instantly, “I see.”

Stiles shut his phone and Derek dragged his hand down his face as he tried to get a grip on himself.

“Of course you can invite your pack over,” Derek ground out between clenched teeth, “This is your home, too.”

“Is it?” Stiles asked, eyes snapping towards him.

“Yes,” Derek took a deep breath, “You have to understand. My instincts are freaking out.”

“Because I won’t sleep with you,” Stiles deadpanned, “How conveniently manipulative.”

“No!” Derek snapped, “Because you aren’t treating me like your Mate!”

“You bought me fair and square, Grumpy,” Stiles stated, folding his arms and leaning back on the sofa, “You have no right to rape me, but you sure as hell can’t make me love you, either. You say we’re Mates. Fine. I’m not going to cheat on you, but I’m not happy about this and growling at me, limiting my contact with my friends, buying me _pillows,_ none of that will make me anything but irritated with you.”

“You thought the pillows and pizza were funny,” Derek grumbled.

“What I think is funny, is that you expect me to just flop into being in love with you. Not going to happen.”

“I’m _trying_ here!” Derek snapped.

“Yeah, for _two days_. Your wolf is an impatient bastard who needs to get over himself.”

Derek’s jaw dropped while Stiles continued, heedless of his own mouth running amok but clearly certain he had already won the argument.

“Just because you’re cute as hell doesn’t mean you’ll always get the girl- or in this case guy.”

“You think I’m cute,” Derek replied smugly.

Stiles huffed, “You’re impossible!”

“And cute.”

Stiles let out an angry groan and turned back to his phone, “I’m inviting my pack over. Try not to kill them.”

“Fine, but I want you to do something first.”

“You really have no idea how relationships work, do you?” Stiles snapped.

“Yes, I do,” Derek stated, walking over to Stiles and snatching his phone up, “And usually you break up with someone before starting another relationship. So. Dump her.”

“What?”

“It will go a long way towards calming my wolf down. Dump the girlfriend.”

“My… girlfriend,” Stiles replied, wrinkling up his nose.

“Yes. Dump her.”

“Ah, not necessary.”

“Why not?” Derek asked, narrowing his eyes, “I was listening to your heartbeat at the meeting. You weren’t lying when you said you had a girlfriend.”

Stiles swallowed, “I wasn’t exactly telling the truth, either.”

Derek cocked his head to the side curiously, “You weren’t lying when you said you weren’t gay.”

“No… no I wasn’t.”

“So if it wasn’t a girlfriend or a boyfriend… whom were you talking about?”

“Ah…” Stiles blushed, “FWB.”

“FWB?”

“Friends with benefits.”

“Come again?” Derek asked.

Stiles snickered, “Yeah, that’s kinda the point.”

Derek raised an irritated eyebrow and Stiles winced.

“Okay,” Stiles swallowed, “She’s just someone I sleep with every once in a while. You know, when one of us has an itch that needs scratching.”

“Well,” Derek grinded out, “Call her and tell her you’ve got a new loufa.”

“Loufa?” Stiles snickered, “That’s what you’re going with?”

“It sounded better than lotion, though I _do_ want to be all over you.”

“Oh, smooth,” Stiles nodded, giving him an appreciative nod, “Sure. No problem. So I can call my pack now?”

Derek’s face twitched, “Call. Her. Now. Unless you have some reason for not ending your… benefits?”

Stiles winced and Derek leaned forward, placing both hands on either side of the back of the couch, effectively caging Stiles and pinning him in place with his glare.

“Uh…” Stiles flushed, “She sort of already knows.”

“Your phone was out of batteries.”

“I know.”

“I didn’t hear you call her inside her father’s house.”

“Yeah.”

“You weren’t sleeping with any of the females in your pack. They’re all spoken for and their mates are werewolves. They’d kill you.”

“Well, only if they found out.”

Derek’s growl cut Stiles off and he winced before swallowing hard and continuing, “It wasn’t someone from my pack, okay? It’s done and over with. She knows. No reason to discuss this further.”

“Who? Was? She?” Derek growled, a sneaking suspicion creeping over him. His mother hadn’t been the only female at the pack meeting, and another ‘wolf would know how to hide scents.

“M-Malia Hale,” Stiles stammered out, “But please don’t hurt her!”

Derek pushed off the sofa, threw his head back, and roared his anguish to the sky. The world became a blur. His heart hurt. His head hurt. His claws were drenched in blood. When he finally came back to his senses he was standing on his parent’s land and his father was in the distance, just watching him curiously and waiting for Derek to become rational again.

“What… what have I done?” Derek asked, looking down at his stained claws.

“Dunno,” Jethro replied, “You tell me.”

“I don’t… I was standing over Stiles. He was being evasive. He told me he was having _sex_ with cousin _Malia_. I just… I can’t… did she _know_? Deaton knew. Deaton knew he was my Mate, he’s the one who encouraged them to come see us. He was teaching Stiles. Did _she_ know?”

“I don’t know,” Jethro replied, “But you certainly thought so.”

“Did I… did I kill my cousin?” Derek asked, eyes wide with horror.

Jethro turned and motioned for Derek to follow him. Derek knew his father well enough to know he wouldn’t get an answer until the bastard was good and ready. He followed him with his heart aching with fear. Sure, he was angry and hurt, but Malia probably wasn’t to blame, and if he’d hurt or killed her he’d have dealt a horrible blow to his entire pack. Peter would be devastated. His mother would have to punish him. He’d never forgive himself.

Derek walked into his parent’s home and immediately caught Stiles’ scent. It immediately made something in him settle and it occurred to him that the fear he hadn’t been willing to voice was that he might have hurt _Stiles_. His father led him into sitting room where Stiles was sitting on the couch with Talia beside him. She had an arm around his shoulder. Stiles’ eyes were red rimmed and his skin smelled stale. Derek stopped in the center of the room and Stiles stared up at him with wide eyes.

“Did I hurt you?” Derek asked softly.

“You… you _idiot_ ,” Stiles choked out, “We’ve been looking for you for _days_.”

“Days?”

“Derek, sweetheart, sit down,” Talia insisted, standing and heading for him with worried eyes, she pulled him close and nuzzled his head, scenting him lovingly before pushing him towards the couch Stiles was sitting on, “I’ll get you something to eat. Jethro?”

Talia almost fled, dragging Jethro along with her.

“We just got the text from your dad half an hour ago. Said you were found. He didn’t say what state you were in.”

Derek was still standing in the middle of the room just staring at Stiles.

“I’m sorry,” He mumbled.

“You… you’re covered in… is that _blood_?”

“Yeah,” Derek nodded, glancing at it, “It’s old. I don’t know whose it is. Is my cousin around?”

“Who?”

“Malia.”

Stiles winced, “Sit down.”

“She’s dead, isn’t she?” Derek asked miserably, “I killed her.”

“Malia’s fine, from what I’ve heard, but your mom said I’m never to so much as be in the same room with her again. Frankly after seeing you completely lose your shit I’m inclined to agree. Now _sit down_.”

Derek huffed, “I’m not a dog.”

He walked over to Stiles and sat down beside him anyway, staring down at the red-brown filth on his hands, “Whose is it?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Stiles replied, voice cracking as he reached out and wrapped his arms around Derek’s shoulders, “Just fucking _hold_ me.”

Derek was confused, but he wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity. He turned and pulled Stiles against his chest. The human sagged against him, his face pressing against Derek’s chest and breathing in deep.

“I haven’t slept since you ran off, screaming like a fucking wendigo with a toothache. Your mom said it was the bond. Dude, you scared me half to death and then we couldn’t find you. Your parents could hear you howling sometimes, but you were just _gone_ before they could get to you every damn time. Half the town is looking for you and I feel _sick_.”

“Humans can’t go for days without sleep,” Derek worried, “You should rest.”

“I can’t,” Stiles’ voice cracked, “I know you’re back and alive but it’s not processing. I’m as tight as a… tight thing.”

Derek snorted and rubbed his back gently, “Okay, well I need to get cleaned up and you could stand to be soothed for a bit. How about I wash the filth off of me quickly and then we take a bath together? Between the water and our mating bond you should pass right out. That way you can just fall asleep without worrying about drowning.”

“I should say no,” Stiles huffed against his stained and torn shirt, “I’m not easy, despite the impression you might have gotten.”

Derek shook his head, pulled Stiles into a bridal carry, and stood up to head to the bathroom. His mother cut him off on the way with a bowl of soup but he waved her away. His mother’s eyes flashed and she began to rant at him about nutrition, but Jethro cut her off.

“Let the boy spend time with his Mate. He needs the brat more than food right now.”

Talia relented under the face of her husband’s insistence and Derek carried Stiles upstairs to one of the larger bathrooms.


	7. Chapter 7

Derek sat Stiles down on the toilet and stepped into the shower to give his body a judicious scrub. He rinsed out the tub and plugged it up, asking Stiles to check the temperature. Once the young man confirmed it was to his liking he hesitated with a hand on the hem of his shift. Stiles nodded tiredly and lifted his arms.

“No funny stuff,” Stiles slurred.

“No funny stuff,” Derek agreed, undoing his jeans and sliding them down his hips.

Derek couldn’t help the way his breath caught in his throat, longing moving through him as the boxers followed the same pathway. Stiles toed off his shoes and stepped out of the puddle of clothes. He couldn’t get his socks off and wasn’t inclined to bend over so Derek knelt down and slid them off for him. Stiles stared at him blearily as Derek stepped into the tub and held a hand out for him. Stiles stepped forward, took the hand, and waited until Derek was ready to hoist him into the tub with an arm beneath his armpits. Once Stiles was standing in the water with him Derek turned him so they were back to front and sat down. Stiles sagged against him like a sack of potatoes, but Derek wasn’t complaining. He wrapped his arms around his Mate as the exhausted human lay between his thighs in the water.

“S’nice tub,” Stiles slurred.

“Yeah,” Derek replied softly.

“We should get a nice tub.”

“I was thinking of installing a big claw foot tub. Goes well with my décor.”

“Mm,” Stiles nodded.

Derek had been half hard on the way into the tub, but the longer Stiles lay against him the harder he got. He shifted Stiles forward to adjust himself, apologizing awkwardly, but Stiles was too drained to care. The younger man lay with his head against Derek’s shoulder in silence for a while, just relaxing against him. He turned his head and his nose brushed against Derek’s stubble.

“You sure this is safe?”

“Very. Even if I fall asleep we’re pretty wedged in here. We won’t fall under.”

“I mean, with you being all… wolf man. Are you going to like… wolf out and ravage me?”

“No,” Derek huffed, “I’m calm now. Disgusted and shocked at myself, but calm.”

“You’re really not hungry?” Stiles yawned.

“No.”

“Then the blood’s probably an animal.”

“What?”

“You were gone for three days, dude. Even a werewolf has to eat. Hell, from what I’ve seen they have to eat _more_. So, yeah. Animal.”

“Hm,” Derek nodded, “That makes sense.”

“I’m sorry,” Stiles whispered.

“What are you apologizing for?” Derek grumbled, irritated that Stiles felt responsible for his actions.

“I shouldn’ve told you.”

“I’d have never relented until you did. I might have done something worse like start going after your friends.”

“Mm, but I shouldn’ve slept wi Malia.”

Derek felt a pang of pain go through his heart, “You didn’t know we were mates.”

“Something drew me to her. She’s a Hale. Maybe it was you. Maybe I wanted her because of you.”

“You don’t want me,” Derek replied with a heavy sigh.

Stiles’ hand sought his in the water and guided it down to his groin. Derek’s breath caught. Stiles was half hard, and if Derek hadn’t been so drained he’d have caught the scent sooner, even if it was covered by Stiles’ twisted up emotions and unwashed body. Taking that motion for permission, Derek stroked him gently beneath the water, working Stiles to full hardness. The young man let out soft croons of pleasure, head moving a bit as his arousal increased.

“Derek,” Stiles breathed.

“Don’t make me stop,” Derek whispered.

“Mm… soap.”

“Hm?”

“For you. Can’t rub. Friction. Soap.”

Derek’s brain slowly caught up and he reached out to find some wash, which he lathered onto his hand and then quickly slipped between their bodies to slick up his cock before the water washed it away. It wasn’t ideal and would never work for penetration, but it was enough that Derek could now roll his hips against Stiles’ back without the skin pulling painfully. His hand returned to Stiles’ member and he worked him faster now, thrusting up against Stiles’ back eagerly. Stiles was all long, pale limbs and sharp angles. His belly was flat with a dark trail between belly button and groin that Derek was instantly in love with. He wanted to lick the water droplets off of it and vowed that he would the second he got the opportunity. For now Derek focused on Stiles’ slim, long cock. It curved slightly towards his body and his heavy balls beneath it were warm in his hand. Stiles’ neck was bared to him and it was driving Derek insane. He mouthed along his neck, lapping at some water that had splashed there, and pressing his tongue against Stiles’ pulse point. His hand slid up from Stiles’ groin to stroke over his chest, teasing one hard nipple. Stiles gasped and bucked a bit, drawing a groan from Derek.

“Derek,” Stiles whimpered, his breath coming faster, “M’close.”

Derek moaned in answer, the very idea of pleasuring his Mate sending him toppling over the edge. His knot swelled in record time and he bucked up against Stiles, the young man’s head bouncing against his shoulder as Derek’s entire body tensed. He gasped out his climax, his cock pulsing between them. Derek barely managed to keep moving his hand, his motions jerky and uncoordinated. Luckily it was all Stiles needed and hot ribbons of come spooled out in the water, one of them almost breaking the surface with the force of Stiles’ orgasm. Stiles gasped, shook, and then went slack against Derek’s back.

Derek was trembling, his knot hard against Stiles’ back. He wasn’t satisfied. Not by half. He couldn’t get enough of Stiles’ body, hands roaming his torso as he panted and frotted against Stiles’ body. His head fell back against the wall of the shower and he moaned out his second climax, pulsing for what felt like solid minutes as pleasure had him wrapping his legs around Stiles’ body and cradling the emissary’s head against his shoulder with a hand beneath his jaw.

“Wow,” Stiles whispered as Derek came down from his pulsating pleasure, “You touch me like I’m precious.”

“You are,” Derek breathed.

“I should get nipple rings so you have something more to play with,” Stiles slurred and then snored softly.

Derek’s cock made a pathetic attempt at regaining an erection at the thought of Stiles laid out on a table, surrounded by fruit and steaming, succulent meats, pulling on a nipple ring while licking the cream out of a pastry.

“I have got to get a grip on my imagination,” Derek wheezed.                                                           


	8. Chapter 8

I've added Canon Character Death to the tags but... it's not technically accurate. It's more like Character Death of Characters Who Are Dead In Canon, But Are Going To Die Differently in This Fic. I guess? 

 

 

Scott opened the door to find Stiles on the other side, drenched from the rain and sniffling, his eyes wide as he bit his lip and twisted his jacket front in his hands.                                                          

“What’s wrong now?” Scott asked in alarm.

“Scott? Buddy?” Stiles whimpered.

“What happened?” Scott grabbed his shoulders and shook him, “Are you hurt? _Did he hurt you?!”_

“Scott I think… I think…”

“What?!”

“I think I might be a tiny, little bit, sort of… gay.”

XXX

Derek waited in the car, telling himself to let Stiles be himself for a bit; to let him have friends and a life beyond lying in Derek’s bed and preening. Not that he’d done that yet. He’d slept quite soundly in the guest bed with Derek wrapped around him like a blanket. Still, Derek had a firm image locked in his mind of Stiles being offered up as a buffet for all of his senses.

He wanted to touch every inch of his body, bury himself inside of Stiles’ warm heat. He needed to taste each mole and smell every scent gland on his body. He had an absolute obsession with seeing Stiles laid out in decadent settings with as little clothing as possible… perhaps just an accent to draw the eyes to one long, delicate finger. He craved the sound of Stiles’ voice, high with pleasure and low with rumbling satisfaction.

Derek knew he should probably stop jerking off in his Camaro outside of the McCall residence, but he couldn’t stop so he was just hoping no one came near enough to see. Stiles was inside drowning his heterosexuality in a root beer while Mrs. McCall cooked him some curly fries. He was whining about how unfair it was that Derek was so sexy and smart that Stiles just couldn’t _help_ but be wildly in attracted to him.

“I mean, he’s practically a kink on his own!” Stiles wailed, “What’s _with_ that? The tight shirts? The whole broody eyebrow thing? I mean, _come on!_ Way to shrink my pants!”

“Stiles,” Mrs. McCall chastised, “As happy as I am that you’re finally coming out of the closet, I’d prefer it if you kept anything below your waist out of your descriptions.”

“He likes my neck,” Stiles groaned, something impacting his something hard, probably his head to the table, “And my nipples. I never even noticed I _had_ nipples!”

“Ew,” Scott decided.

“How did you not…?” Melissa asked, and then apparently changed her mind, “You know what? I don’t want to know.”

“Remember how _I’m_ gay?” Scott asked, “I love you man, but the whole ‘woe is me for being gay’ thing? Not flattering.”

“It’s not that,” Stiles replied, his voice less muffled. He must have sat back up again, “I’m fine with being gay. I’m freaked out because apparently, I don’t know myself very well.”

Melissa sighed and set something down with a clank, “Stiles, no one completely knows themselves. We’re all complicated individuals. There are parts of you that only you know, parts of you that only your friends know, and parts of you that you’ll only see when you’re old and grey. That’s what people are like.”

“I don’t like it,” Stiles stated firmly, “It’s like I’m keeping secrets from myself. I’m disgusted. I’m angry. I’m _anxious._ Not about being gay, about _not knowing myself_. _”_

“Dude, make like Elsa an let it go,” Scott advised, “A totally hot guy wants your body. Go lose your V-card.”

Derek grunted out his release into a bundle of napkins and sighed, leaning back in the seat with a sigh. He could go again, but at least he’d taken the edge off. He’d hold off just in case Stiles wanted him that night.

“That’s just it,” Stiles sighed, “He freaked out _because_ I already lost it.”

“You… you had sex and never told me?!” Scott squealed.

“Okay, and on that note I’m going to bed early,” Melissa announced, and Derek ignored the sound of her footsteps leaving the group.

“Honestly?” Stiles sighed, “I didn’t tell you because I felt like I was cheating on the pack.”

“Shit, Stiles, she’s from another pack?”

“Hale pack.”

“Dude, when you screw up-“

“I know, I know,” Stiles sighed.

Derek’s arousal was well and truly gone. He didn’t like thinking about Stiles’ previous sexual experience, but if he was being honest it wasn’t as if he were completely innocent. He’d not had penetrative sex with Paige, but he’d fooled around with her. Derek hadn’t thought about it in years, but it suddenly hit him that he was technically virginal, and wasn’t _that_ a twist? His _younger,_ socially awkward, human mate had had risky sex with a werewolf outside of his pack, but Derek the hot bodied son of the Alpha was a virgin.

Derek stopped listening in and waited for Stiles to return to the Camero, where he studied the young man while Stiles sat beside him.

“We… going to go home?” Stiles asked curiously.

Derek sighed, “No. There’s something I need to show you.”

Derek took Stiles back to his family’s property, far on the outskirts of Beacon Hills. This was so far from his home it was almost at he opposite ends of the woods from his family house. There was a pathway through the woods off of the road, but it was a narrow one so he held Stiles’ hand supportively as he led him through the pitch black woods. Once they reached his goal he lit up his phone’s flashlight app and showed him a gigantic, gnarled tree.

“Is this the part where you introduce me to Winnie the Pooh?” Stiles asked.

Derek huffed in amusement and shook his head at his mate’s antics. He was beginning to realize that Stiles used humor to deal with being uncomfortable.

“I didn’t bring you out here to kill you.”

“That’s reasurring. I’m not so sure we should do anything else out here without a blanket, though.”

“This way,” Derek replied, leading him about ten feet off to a cellar door.

Derek opened the door and led Stiles down the hard, packed earth stairs to an area full of power and energy. Stiles gasped, his hand flying to his chest as a shiver went through him.

“What… what is this?”

“A Nemeton,” Derek replied softly, “It’s not Deaton’s. It’s older. He probably was going to bring you here someday, but… I needed to show you.”

“Why?” Stiles asked, his face flushed as he stared at the enormous root system.

“Because this is where my eyes changed,” Derek replied softly, “When I was a teenager I fell in love with a human. I thought she was my Mate and… maybe she was. A lot of ‘wolves believe in reincarnation, and that was before you were born.”

“Wait, how old _are_ you?” Stiles asked.

“Older than I look,” Derek replied, “Her name was Paige and she was… my whole world. Except she was sick, Stiles. So sick. Her liver was shutting down and the doctors just kept saying she wasn’t on the top of the transplant list and… her mother didn’t want her to take the bite, even if it would save her. They were cousins of Hunters and…”

“How did she die?” Stiles asked when Derek trailed off, his hand sliding into Derek’s once again.

Derek took a deep breath, “I asked my mother to turn her, so I could keep my Mate and Paige could live. She knew it was against Paige’s parent’s wishes but… she agreed. Paige packed a bag to run away and join our pack and we met here because her parents had forbidden us to see each other. My mother bit her arm so gently, just enough to ensure the bite took. Within seconds we knew something was wrong.”

“Her liver?” Stiles asked with wide eyes.

“No,” Derek’s voice choked, “Bite rejection.”

“That… that only happens if a person’s been exposed to wolfsbane!”

Derek nodded miserably, “Her parents would rather she were dead than a werewolf. She died before we could get her to the hospital. They told us that even if it had happened _in_ the hospital there would have been nothing they could due because of how bad off her liver was. My mother got fined for giving someone a bite without authorization and Paige’s parents went to jail for life.”

“Her liver condition,” Stiles gave Derek a horrified look, “ _They_ caused it with the wolfsbane. My gods, what kind of people _were_ they?”

“Argents,” Derek replied darkly, “Old Hunter blood. They still hate us to this day.”

“That’s just… racist.”

Derek nodded, “I never got over her death, Stiles. Not until I met you.”

“I’m no one,” Stiles muttered.

“You’re someone to _me_ ,” Derek replied, squeezing his hand, “You’re my _Mate_ , Stiles. I wish I could put how important that is into words. It’s… I was so devastated after losing Paige that I never touched another person again. I never wanted to. I was completely uninterested in sex. Hell, I barely masturbated! Stiles, you’re my _world_ now.”

“No pressure, huh?”

Derek sighed, “That’s not how I meant this to come off.”

“Well, maybe speak English instead of Were?”

“You don’t have to worry about what’s happened in the past, Stiles,” Derek stated plainly, “I’m not worried about you and Malia, I was just _hurt_ because I felt betrayed by my pack. She didn’t know. You didn’t know. I was irrational, but I don’t want you to think I value you less because you aren’t a virgin.”

“Wait…” Stiles made a face, “So you haven’t had sex in over twenty years?”

Derek was suddenly _very_ grateful that Stiles couldn’t tell when he was lying, “Something like that, yeah.”

“How are you keeping your hands off me?” Stiles asked, turning to him with a heated look.

It was everything Derek wanted… but not _here_ where he’d watched Paige die. He pulled away and Stiles realized his mistake instantly.

“I’m sorry. It’s this place… I can feel it _breathing_.”

“Are you okay to be here?” Derek asked, wondering if he’d made a mistake.

“Are you kidding?” Stiles whispered, “I never want to leave. I feel like I’ve just had the best nap ever. It’s so refreshing.”

“Well, I hate to wake you up, but…”

“Sure, let’s go,” Stiles smiled warmly.

Derek led the way back, helping his stumbling mate over tree roots and around a big bear trap. Derek set the offending object off with a stick, alarmed that there was something like that on his property. He called his mother about it once they got to the car, but was distracted halfway through the car by Stiles choking and coughing. He got off the phone to pat his back, watching in alarm as Stiles turned colors and wheezed.

“Oh man, I inhaled a _bug_ ,” Stiles panted.

“Gross,” Derek chuckled, “You okay?”

“Yeah, just… ew.”

Derek found Stiles a bottle of water from the car and he chugged it, feeling much relieved once he’d gotten over his coughing fit. Derek called his mother back and put her on speaker while they headed to the loft again. Stiles was uncharacteristically silent the entire way, and when they reached the loft he curled against Derek’s side with a warm smile.

“You’re really strong,” Stiles breathed, nuzzling beneath his ear.

Derek heated up instantly, pulling Stiles against him. There was a moment of hesitation as they stood facing each other and staring into each other’s eyes, and then Derek leaned in and captured Stiles’ lips. Stiles moaned softly into their first kiss, his hands clutching at Derek’s shirt. The ‘wolf slid his hands down Stiles’ back, paused just above his ass, and then slid his hands down lower to cup him firmly. This time they both moaned, but Stiles broke the kiss with a snigger.

“Not bad for a dude with bug breath, huh?” Stiles teased.

Derek groaned, “I forgot.”

Stiles laughed as Derek dragged them both to the bathroom to brush their teeth and use mouthwash. His mate was crafty, a sweet and charming little trickster. He wouldn’t have been shocked to find out that Stiles was a werefox, but he was perfectly happy to have an emissary as a Mate. Derek stood behind Stiles and kissed his neck as he brushed his teeth, his arms around his waist and his eyes dancing as he watched them in the mirror. Everything was perfect. He had his Mate, and he was going to start a family with him.

What could go wrong?


	9. Chapter 9

This is where the real shit starts. You have been warned, so check the tags and make sure you're good to go. I've realized this is more complicated than I planned on it being, so there will be a sequel. 

 

Derek woke in the night to the sound of terrified screaming. He bolted upright with a roar, claws and teeth out, ready to defend his Mate to his death. Stiles was in the bed, sitting up and screaming in terror, clawing at the blankets as he writhed in horror.

“Get it off! GET IT OFF!”

Derek dropped down to his knees and pulled him close, tugging the tangled blankets off of his legs and wiping the sweat from his head as he leaned against him and panted.

“Shh,” Derek soothed, “It was just a dream.”

“Oh my gods,” Stiles panted, “It was so real. I dreamt I was wrapped in bandages from head to toe. I couldn’t breath and your mom was burying me _alive_.”

“That’s awful,” Derek whispered against his ear.

“I swear it was happening,” Stiles groaned, rubbing at his face, “I kept telling myself it wasn’t real, but I couldn’t wake up and it didn’t _feel_ like a dream. You know how sometimes it feels like a dream?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I don’t think I want to go back to sleep again,” Stiles groaned, and then stiffened in alarm, “I didn’t _feel_ asleep and… I’m not even sure I’m awake now. Am… am I awake?”

Derek smiled against his neck, nuzzling him lovingly, “You want to know a secret?”

“Hm?”

“If you count your fingers in your sleep you’ll never come up with ten, so that’s how you know it’s a dream.”

“Really?”

“Mm-hm. Try it.”

“One... two… three… four… five… six…”

Derek kissed his neck with each count as Stiles stared down at his hands.

“Seven… eight… nine… ten… elev… Derek, I have eleven fingers.”

A slow growl reached his ears and Stiles felt something sharp scrape his neck.

“Derek?” Stiles squeaked, turning his head in alarm and twisting out of his Mate’s grip.

Derek’s teeth were sharp and pointed, but not like a werewolves. They were shaped like the teeth of the Angler Fish from Finding Nemo, bright silver, and lunging towards his face.

Stiles screamed until Derek dumped a glass of water on him. Derek was standing over him, watching him count his fingers over and over again, with a terrified look on his pale face.

“I couldn’t wake you up,” Derek told him.

“I… I…” Stiles was shaking, “That was… I just… I think…”

“Easy, easy,” Derek soothed, “Let’s get you dry and warm. Maybe a cup of tea?”

“Yeah,” Stiles nodded, “Am I awake now?”

“Yeah,” Derek assured him with a soft smile, “If you weren’t you wouldn’t have ten fingers, right?”

Stiles let out a terrified squawk and pulled away from Derek for a moment, counting his fingers while giving him anxious glances, but he still had ten fingers. Finally he let Derek lead him to the kitchen and set him up with a cup of chamomile tea. He was exhausted so Derek herded him back to bed and wrapped him up in the safety of his arms once more. Stiles took hours to fall asleep, and when he did his dreams were troubled once more. By the time morning came they were both exhausted and Derek was more than a little bit worried.

Stiles began to wane after that night. He was constantly tired and nauseated. He had dark circles around his eyes and was having trouble focusing on his classes. However, everything came to a head when he came home from his last class on Tuesday and Derek noticed his skin color changing. He dragged Stiles over to the balcony so he could see him in the sunlight and felt his stomach drop.

“We’re going to the hospital.”

“I’m fine,” Stiles replied, “It’s just a stomach bug.”

“You’re not fine,” Derek replied, “Stiles, your _liver_ is failing.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes, “Is this about Paige?”

“No, this is about _you,_ but I know what I’m talking about. Stiles, your skin is _yellow_.”

“No it isn’t,” Stiles scoffed, weaving his sway inside and into the bathroom. Derek heard him swear from the balcony, “Derek! I think my liver is failing!”

They drove to the hospital in silence. Even after so short a time Derek wasn’t used to his Mate being still and quiet. It was unsettling and he kept feeling the need to fill the air with chatter but had no idea what to say. Part of him wanted to pull over, crawl up on the roof of the car, and howl out his agony to the sky. One question kept repeating through his mind over and over again. _Why?_ First Paige, and now Stiles? Why would he have the same illness as she did? A sickening thought crossed Derek’s mind. What if someone were poisoning Stiles the way Paige had been poisoned? Her parents were in jail for life, so who else could it be? Someone connected to them who wanted to punish Derek? Someone who knew both Derek and Paige?

“I’m sorry,” Stiles whispered.

“Wh-what?” Derek asked.

“I’m googling ways you can get liver issues,” Stiles replied softly, “It says here medicine abuse. I pop Adderall like it’s candy.”

“Then it’s reversible. They’ll clean your liver and kidneys out and you’ll change your diet and go off the meds.”

“Mm.”

“I’m glad you told me that,” Derek smiled softly.

“Why?”

“Because I was starting to get paranoid,” Derek laughed awkwardly at himself, “Thinking someone was poisoning _you_ , too.”

Stiles snorted, “Just me, I guess. The only other way is if I had hepatitis, but then I’d have to have gotten it from someone and the only person would be Malia, but then Malia would have had to have gotten it from someone.”

Derek’s stomach dropped. What if…?

His brain continued to chase scent trails of logic and illogic. He was as pale and shaky as Stiles by the time they got to the hospital, any hope of saving Stiles kept waning as they moved him through the halls and began running test after test. Hepatatis was brought up. So was his medication abuse. Then a long list of his family history, which had mostly heart issues though alcohol abuse was apparently an issue for John. Still, John’s liver was holding out and his drinking had no physical effect on Stiles. It wasn’t like smoking. The doctors were stumped as to why he’d had such a sudden drop in health. His mother’s death was brought up and Stiles took a steadying breath and told them Melissa McCall was fully versed in his mother’s case. They called her in and she hugged him tightly, explaining that Stiles’ mother had died from a rare condition. Stiles didn’t have the symptoms. His was a mystery. Melissa, with Stiles’ permission, called Scott. Stiles hadn’t done so because he had been worried Derek and Scott would fight, but Derek calmly took his hand and told him he had every right to call his alpha.

Scott arrived at the same time that Laura did, her eyes wide with worry.

“What are you doing here?” Derek asked in surprise.

“You texted me,” She told him, pulling him into a tight hug, “All you said was you were at the hospital and to come quickly? What’s going on?”

“Stiles is sick,” Derek replied, putting the odd text out of his mind. His voice was cracking before he could get it under control. His sister was here. His future alpha. She could fix this. She could make _anything_ better, “It’s just like Paige. His liver. Laura, something horrible is going on. This _can’t_ be a coincidence.”

“Two’s a coincidence,” Stiles replied, “Three’s a pattern.”

“I won’t _survive_ to a third!” Derek raged, “I waited twenty years to get you back, Stiles. Twenty years I lived after my Mate died. I will _not_ wait around again hoping I’m lucky enough to find you three times in one lifetime!”

“Derek,” Laura said softly, “You’re sure?”

“Yes,” Derek breathed, “Stiles is Paige reincarnated. I know werewolves who find Mates once and outlive them tend to be drawn to them again, but… I can’t. Not a third time. I’m going out with him.”

“Derek Hale,” Laura raged, “Don’t you _dare_ threaten to kill yourself!”

“I won’t _have_ to,” Derek snarled, “My damn heart can’t take this!”

“Derek,” Stiles said softly, his voice so weak and frightened that it stopped the two werewolves from arguing. Derek’s head snapped over to see Stiles fighting back tears, “I don’t want you to die.”

Derek hurried back to Stiles’ side and hugged him gently, stroking his hair and pressing kisses to his temple.

“I just found you again, I don’t want to lose you.”

“How does this even work?” Stiles choked out, “I can’t be turned. You were a teenager with Paige, but you’re barely a young adult now so… You’ll outlive me no matter what! It’s hopeless.”

Derek nuzzled Stiles’ hair, “As an emissary you’ll naturally live longer, possibly longer than me, but you’re not immune to illness and you don’t heal like I do. We just have to get you healthy. That’s it. Focus on that.”

“Derek, if I die-“

“Don’t.”

“No, _listen_. I want to try for a kid. If you have a baby you’ll live, right? You’ll have a part of me and-“

“Let’s talk about starting a family when you’re well.”

“ _Listen to me_ ,” Stiles pleaded.

“We’ll try. Okay? But first we deal with _this_. You’re in no shape to… uh…” Derek paused mid-promise and glanced at Laura, “You _know.”_

Stiles chuckled a bit, “You’ve got to be like… thirty or forty by my estimate, and you can’t say sex in front of your sister?”

Derek scowled and Laura gave them both a fond look, “What can I do to help?”

“I don’t know,” Derek groaned, rubbing at his face, “They just keep running tests.”

“I’m gonna run out of blood,” Stiles joked half-heartedly.

“And your mate is going to fall over from exhaustion,” Laura decided, giving Derek a cursory sniff, “You go down to the cafeteria and get some food and fluids into you.”

“No way,” Derek snarled.

“Derek Moonbeam Hale you listen to your future alpha and current big sister!” Laura snapped, not taking any of his snark.

Stiles giggled for real this time, “Moonbeam?!”

“Our parents were hippies,” Laura’s eyes rolled, “Derek was conceived at Woodstock.”

“Which Woodstock?” Stiles asked, eyes widening, “ _The_ Woodstock? Or the namesakes?”

“A werewolf never reveals his age,” Derek sniffed.

“Whichever it was,” Laura rolled her eyes, “Our parents decided moonbeam was a good middle name. If it’s any consolation, mine is worse.”

“What’s yours?” Stiles asked eagerly.

“She won’t tell anyone,” Derek huffed, “Only our parents know. I tried to find her birth certificate once but my parents have it locked in the vault and some of it’s restricted so…”

“I wanna know!” Stiles pleaded, eyes wide.

Laura considered him for a moment, “Well… it did put a smile on your face to hear Derek’s. Tell you what. Convince your wayward Mate here to go get food and drink for himself, and I’ll tell you my middle name.”

Stiles’ face lit up, but he quickly turned to an outraged Derek and fixed him with his best puppy eyes, “Pwetty pwease, Wove Wolf?”

“Oh gods!” Derek groaned in disgust, rolling his eyes, but he quickly left, if only to flee Laura’s hysterical laughter. He tried to listen in, but Laura was aware of his hesitation in the hallway so he gave up and went to the cafeteria instead.

Laura had been right. Derek was drained and the food and drink, regardless of quality, was instantly refreshing. He returned to Stiles’ room in the ER with more energy and hope than he’d left with, but when he got there the room was empty.

“He’s been moved to a room on the third floor,” Melissa told him with a comforting smile while she gathered up Stiles’ things, “They’re keeping him overnight. Admittance just took him. It’s room 313.”

“Thanks,” Derek gave her a nod, “Scott and Laura are still with him?”

“My son went out to get us all lunch,” Melissa told him, “He’ll be back in a few. I begged for something besides hospital food and he can’t say no to me.”

“I know that feeling,” Derek sighed.

Derek made it to the room only to find Stiles’ bed empty. He asked a nurse but she had no idea. The receptionist was more helpful and told him Stiles was getting a CT scan to speed up diagnosis so they could speed up treatment rather than bombarding him with the wrong medication and hoping it helped. Derek told her he wanted to be there and the young man gave him directions to the room.

Derek was a few feet from the door when the lights flickered and the screaming began.


	10. Chapter 10

Derek burst through the doors just as the hospital gave up it’s fight with electric current. The room went dark for a moment and then the emergency lights went on just as Derek’s eyes began to adjust. Behind him in the hall were a cacophony of alarms, but what was _in_ the room absorbed all of his attention. Stiles was standing in the corner of the room sobbing, his arms wrapped around his hospital gown clad body. However, it was his _sister_ that Derek couldn’t stop staring at, not his mate. Laura was lying on the floor beside the CT machine covered in electric burns. The smell was overpowering and Derek’s eyes watered even as he knelt by her side. The ruined corpse of the human tech didn’t even faze him. His sister was dying. He could tell by the sound of her fibrillating heart. She was in agony and Derek instinctively reached out to draw the pain from her while Stiles shakily approached.

“What happened?” Stiles asked, voice cracking.

“You don’t know?” Derek replied, barely able to speak through the emotions that were warring in his throat.

“I was looking at the panels. They said I could have a glance. Laura was talking to the tech and then… When I turned around they were like this and it was… I freaked out. Derek, I’m sorry. I’m still in training. I have no idea what to do!”

“Nothing,” Derek replied, watching the life drain from Laura’s eyes, “There’s nothing we can do. Her wolf died when she got shocked. Her brain was just hanging on for a bit.”

Derek closed Laura’s eyes gently; ignoring the crackle of skin beneath his hands, then threw his head back and howled his anguish to the world.

XXX

Derek was in shock. That was the only way to explain how he was still functioning as he sat in his mother’s living room and calmly told her about her eldest child’s death. Talia had felt Laura die, of course, and she’d already been devastated when he arrived. Gibbs was just holding her, eyes wide and disbelieving. Talia wanted details so Derek gave them, all in a deadpan voice and with half his mind on his sick mate. He couldn’t deal with Laura’s death right now, so he was blocking it all out. He knew it had happened, and he could still smell her burnt flesh in his hair, but he couldn’t focus on it.

“Stiles is sick,” Derek told her, “I have to go.”

“You have to… Derek, your sister just _died_ ,” Talia sobbed, “You can’t just _leave_.”

“It’s his liver,” Derek replied, “Do you know anything about that?”

“What?” Talia blinked in shock.

“Derek,” Jethro growled, eyes narrowing angrily.

“It’s just weird, you know? First Paige, now Stiles? And the more I think about it, you always encouraged Laura to stay single. She was all for it, but I’ve always wanted a family. You couldn’t possibly keep me from dating so…”

“No. No, absolutely not!” Talia shouted, hurt and angry, “When Paige died a part of my little boy died. I _wept_ with you!”

“Yet you don’t want me to go back to the hospital when Stiles is sick?” Derek asked coldly.

“You little-!” Talia shrieked, eyes flashing red.

Jethro held her back, stepping in front to stop her from taking out her pain on Derek.

“He’s talkin’ out his ass, Tal,” Jethro grunted, “Both of you step back and shut up!”

“I’m the alpha here!” Talia snarled.

“And I’m the man who gives you dick whenever you want it,” Jethro snapped, “Not to mention the father of your children. Derek’s angry. You’re angry. Now’s not the time to spout conspiracy theories or demand he stay here when his mate is sick. Derek, go be with your mate, but stay in touch. Your mom’s hurting. Talia, come upstairs. You need to let this out in a _healthy_ way.”

“How can you be so _calm_?” Talia wept, sagging against him.

“I have to be,” Jethro replied softly, “I’ve got an alpha for a mate. Stabilizing you is what I do. Say it with me, sweetheart. Alpha, beta, omega. Alpha, beta, omega.”

Talia began to shakily repeat with him while Jethro gestured towards the door with his head. Derek gave him a grateful glance and walked outside, but he could still hear his mother sobbing out their family’s mantra as he went. He paused in front of his car, keys in hand, and took a steadying breath.

“I’m sorry, mom,” Derek whispered.

He wasn’t sure if she heard him or not. Her words didn’t falter any more than usual. Derek got back in his car and drove to the hospital on autopilot. He didn’t notice the SUV following him.

XXX

“Gods, I feel like such an ass,” Derek breathed, nuzzling close to Stiles’ chest.

They were home after two days in the hospital. The doctors had found no reason for Stiles’ liver to be falling apart and he was neither getting better nor improving. They’d released him with instructions to follow up with other doctors. An entire list, in fact. Stiles had called the school and withdrawn from his classes. His health was too much of a concern. He wasn’t working, either. Derek was glad to have his mate home, but it made him feel anxious whenever he saw him. Stiles had finally sat him down and told Derek to spill his guts.

“I can tell you’re holding something in behind that constipated grimace. Talk to me. I’m your Mate. You should be able to tell me anything.”

So Derek unloaded on Stiles, blurting out his fears, suspicions, how close he’d been to Laura, and his horrible fight with his mother.

“She hasn’t spoken to me since. I know she’s mourning, and I was horrible, but I think she’d want her other kids near, you know?”

“You think she’s disowned you?” Stiles asked, rubbing Derek’s back.

Derek lifted his head in surprise. It was such an uncharacteristic thing for Stiles to say. He teased, but he wasn’t _cruel_. If anything he was the sort who comforted people around him. Stiles must have realized his verbal diarrhea had gotten the best of him, because he gave Derek a sympathetic smile.

“At least you still have me… for now.”

Derek winced. This was _not_ making him feel better, “Would you like something to eat? Or a shower? Or maybe I can turn on the TV you brought…”

“I’d like a shower,” Stiles replied quickly, “Except…”

Derek glanced up to see Stiles giving him a shy look, “Yeah?”

“Will you shower with me? I just… I want to cherish what little time we have left.”

“You aren’t dying,” Derek replied firmly, “I won’t let you. I’ll find every damn specialist in the world and get you better. Deaton will help, too. He’s looking up magical maladies to see if this could somehow be a curse on me or someone linked to me.”

Stiles shrugged lightly, an odd response overall.

“So, shower?” Stiles asked.

“Yeah,” Derek nodded, helping Stiles up and leading him to the bathroom, “How are you feeling?”

“Tired, but I don’t want it to hold me back. If I do go, I don’t want you to die, Derek.”

“Stiles…” Derek whined.

“I’m serious. Babies. We’re trying tonight. At the very least you’ll finally lose your virginity. No reason to die a virgin if you do end up following me to hell.”

“And back,” Derek soothed, pulling Stiles against him as they stood in the bathroom.

Their lips met and Derek felt that gorgeous spark between them ignite. Stiles leaned against him more fully while moaning softly, and Derek found himself letting all the trauma of the past few days slide away as his hands roamed Stiles’ slim body.

Derek reluctantly pulled away to start the shower, eyes roaming over Stiles as he slowly undressed. Derek pulled him in once he was completely nude to kiss him passionately, one arm around his waist and the other cradling his jaw.

“I love you,” Derek breathed, “You’re so funny and smart and… don’t leave me. I’ll give you anything. Everything. Name it. I’m rich. I’ll get you a new liver. I’ll-”

“Shh,” Stiles stroked at Derek’s cheek to brush the tears away, “Just hold me. Love me.”

“Yeah,” Derek pulled him close again, his tongue caressing Stiles’ lips. The beautiful young man’s lips opened and Derek’s tongue caressed his, glorying in the satiny feel of the muscle.

Derek broke the kiss to fetch the lubricant from the bedroom, leaving Stiles to adjust the shower water. When he came back in his Mate was already wet and sliding soap over his slim body. Derek stepped in, eyes glutting on the body of the young man he hadn’t had enough of, and might never be able to get enough of.

“Do I look okay?” Stiles asked, “I didn’t want to look. Am I gross?”

“No,” Derek replied, “You’re beautiful.”

Stiles smiled softly and Derek cradled his head, pulling him against this body lovingly. His hand slid along Stiles’ hip, pressing his hand against his lower back as he leaned forward to kiss along his jaw. Stiles’ body felt so perfect pressed against Derek’s, their body’s slotting together as Derek’s erection pushed into the groove of his hip. Stiles wasn’t aroused yet, but the soft moan he let out gave Derek hope that he was at least enjoying their touch. He slid the hand at Stiles’ hair down his neck as their lips met again, down his chest to thumb at a nipple and bring out a gasp. He felt the younger man’s member twitch against his leg and resumed his journey down to Stiles’ shaft. Stiles whined in the back of his throat as Derek worked him to hardness, exploring the circumsized shaft curiously. Stiles had already been hard before, and there wasn’t too much different about an uncut short-skinned shaft as there was a cut one when fully aroused. Now he was curious to find the head exposed as he worked him slowly. He worried that Stiles might not like Derek’s shape, but the younger man reached for him without hesitating.

“Show me,” Stiles whispered.

Derek stepped back a bit to guide Stiles’ hand, showing him how to work the foreskin until Derek was panting.

“My turn,” Derek replied, “Before this ends too soon.”

“What about that… lump thing.”

“My knot. It’ll show up soon enough.”

“Would it hurt inside me?”

Derek had to shut his eyes and swallow hard to stop himself from spinning Stiles around and pushing him against the wall.

“It probably would a bit, but we’d go slow and… you know, if babies are what you’re going for that really won’t work.”

“Maybe I want to feel it _burn_ ,” Stiles groaned, head falling back as Derek tightened his grip when Stiles squeezed the hand wrapped around his shaft.

“Then we should go to the bed,” Derek replied, “The knot means we’ll be tied together for a while.”

Stiles nodded and Derek washed him lovingly, enjoying the scrape of his blunt human nails against Stiles’ scalp. The young man leaned into him happily, sighing in pleasure as Derek pulled the head of the shower down to rinse off his hair and body. Derek stepped out and fetched a towel, drying Stiles off before scooping him up and carrying him bridal style to the bedroom. Stiles laughed happily, nuzzling Derek’s neck before the ‘wolf laid him gently down in bed.

“You sure you’re up for this?”

“Yes,” Stiles breathed hungrily, “I need you inside me.”

Derek groaned, palming his straining erection at those words, and snatched the lubricant back up. He poured it onto his fingers.

“Hands and knees, just to start. Okay?”

“Anything,” Stiles replied, scrambling over.

Derek took a moment just to admire Stiles’ pert little ass before spreading his cheeks and leaning down to nuzzle his taint and lick his balls. Stiles must not have been expecting it because he let out a soft cry of surprise. Derek climbed up, flicking his tongue along Stiles’ furled pucker. Stiles gasped and pushed back, exciting Derek’s wolf even more. He gripped Stiles’ cheeks and began to hungrily push at his entrance, working him open with his tongue while Stiles panted and whined eagerly. Derek reached down to cup his balls and worked his way up Stiles’ hard shaft.

“Beard burn is my new favorite kink,” Stiles choked out, “Fucking hell, _burn my ass!”_

Derek moaned at his exclamation, burying his face in Stiles’ ass and shaking his head fast to draw several sharp cries from the overeager young man. Derek couldn’t take much more. Stiles’ cock was leaking and the smell was beyond erotic. Derek kneeled up and fumbled with the lube again, slicking himself up before sliding a finger easily into Stiles’ body.

“Oh gods!” Stiles shouted, “Oh fuck. Your finger’s in my ass. Holy fucking shit.”

Derek hummed in agreement as he pumped his finger in and out of Stiles’ body. When Stiles responded favorably he slid in a second. He only knew what to do from porn and logic, and he’d mostly favored videos involving two women so he was flying on fortune. He figured Stiles needed to be nice and open for him, so he continued to work him like that, surprised when Stiles let out a sharp cry and pushed back.

“Fuck! Wh-what was? Do that again.”

“This?” Derek tried.

“No! The other thing. The thing that felt so fucking g- aaahh,” Stiles devolved to moans and thrusting back against Derek’s fingers.

Derek couldn’t take it any more. He pulled free and pressed his cockhead against Stiles’ hole, eager to bury himself in the heat of his body. Derek pushed forward and Stiles let out a low whine of pain, but when Derek retreated he reached back and grabbed for him.

“No don’t. I like… like it when it hurts. Do it. _Please_.”

Derek was in no place mentally to argue. He pushed forward and when the head pushed through he felt his knot begin to swell. The lucky part about being a werewolf was he wouldn’t come without pressure on his knot, so he intended to deny himself until Stiles was at least _close_ to satisfied. Derek pushed forward until his knot hit Stiles’ rim and then pulled back, moaning in pleasure as fire raced up and down his spine.

“What are you doing?” Stiles panted, “Knot me!”

“I’ll come,” Derek panted, “I want to feel you. Savor this. Fuck, Stiles, you’re so hot!”

Stiles moaned softly, and Derek reached around to grip his shaft, stroking him. It made him lose his rhythm and he had to force his brain to keep working despite the overwhelming urge to just bury himself inside of Stiles and come until he couldn’t see straight. Stiles had lost some of his hardness so Derek leaned over him, mouthing at his neck and nibbling his ears while teasing his nipples and jerking him off. Stiles got hard again _fast,_ and Derek rolled his hips once again. He needed Stiles to enjoy this. There might be precious few opportunities for them to make love.

“Yes,” Stiles gasped, pushing back on him while Derek teetered on the edge of oblivion, “Yes. Love me, Derek Hale. _Love me_.”

Derek groaned loud and desperate, his body frantic and his knot almost painful. Stiles’ arousal had been back and forth but he could feel the emissary’s cock starting to throb. Stiles was panting and keening for release, his body drenched in sweat and smelling so sweet. Derek thought he was close but he couldn’t hold back anymore; his ears were ringing and his breath hot in his longs.

Derek gripped Stiles’ hips tightly and slammed himself inside, gasping as his knot was suddenly surrounded by hot, tight flesh. His mate was wrapped around him like a vice and every thought except coming had vanished from Derek’s mind. He grinded his hips into Stiles’ body, shouting in pleasure as Stiles’ body worked his knot in ways his own hand had never discovered. Everything vanished except for his dick and Stiles’ tight, wet hole. He was nothing but pleasure, shooting from one end of his body to another, and he hadn’t even come yet!

Derek’s balls drew up tight to his body, and he’d never actually _felt_ them do that before, but now that it was happening it was his new favorite feeling. He panted and whined as the suspense nearly drove him wild. All he could do was roll his hips and hang onto Stiles for dear life. Then it was happening. A tight pulse from his knot and Derek was shouting over and again as he filled Stiles’ body with his seed. He’d never creamed so hard in his life, and he couldn’t stop himself from pressing against Stiles’ body and chasing another climax. He clutched his mate against himself, gasping and shaking as his hands moved over the beautiful body beneath him while his hips ground against the body plastered against his own. Stiles let out a sharp cry and Derek caught the scent of semen high in the air. Stiles clenched around him impossibly tight, but rather than deter him the feeling drove Derek’s knot into tight, hard spasms as a long orgasm ripped through him. He threw his head back and howled, the sound breaking off as his release stole his breath away. Derek was left limp on top of stiles panting and shaking as what felt like every drop of energy left his body.

“Oh gods, Stiles,” Derek wheezed, “Oh gods, that was… fuck, that was gorgeous.”

“Yeah?” Stiles asked in apparent surprise.

“Yes. Yes, a _thousand_ times yes,” Derek panted. He could smell blood on the air now that his sanity was returning, “Are you okay?”

“I’m… fine,” Stiles replied softly, “Just tired. How long until…?”

“I’ll be tied to you for at least twenty minutes,” Derek replied, “Let’s roll over so I’m not crushing you.”

They fell asleep spooning, Derek caressing Stiles’ chest and belly lovingly. He was almost asleep when Stiles’ words came back to him and he whispered softly.

“I love you.”

XXX

He stood in front of the mirror and grimaced. In his reflection was a creature covered in bandages, decrepit and ungainly, if strong. He despised it. His prank to possess this body had been hilarious, but now it was becoming serious. He hadn’t been expecting to enjoy sex with Derek Hale. He wasn’t _supposed_ to, and he’d been counting on not enjoying it to make Derek feel guilty. It was about getting all that pain he’d drawn out of his sister to feed on, but instead he’d experienced a human orgasm for the first time in his life and he was _angry_. He’d been so busy coming that he’d nearly forgotten to drain the pain from Derek until the end. Nothing was going as planned and Stiles was sure there was something strange about Derek Hale, but he couldn’t place what it was. He had to speed it up, and fast.

Stiles put on a t-shirt and boxers and left the flat, not bothering to worry about the semen dripping down the back of his thighs. It would just make his host more panicked, more cold, more confused. It would be perfect.


	11. Chapter 11

“D-Derek?” Stiles voice came over the phone, tinged with fear as his teeth chattered with cold.

“Stiles?” Talia asked sleepily.

“Who the fuck is this?!”

“It’s Talia,” She replied, sitting up in her bed while Jethro stirred awake beside her, “You called my cell instead of Derek’s.”

“What? How? I didn’t think I even had your… nevermind. You have to get Derek for me. My phone’s dying and I’m trapped and my leg is hurt and-“

“Where?” Talia demanded.

“I don’t know,” Stiles whimpered, “It looks like a basement or cellar or something. There are stone walls. Someone’s scratched something on the wall. It’s cold. I’m so, so cold.”

“I’m coming. Keep talking. Tell me more so I can find you.”

“My leg. My fucking _leg,”_ Stiles sobbed, “I’m so cold.”

“Focus, Stiles! What’s around you. What does it smell like?”

“Musty. Like… something sickly sweet. Almost like vomit, but more floral? Oh no. My phones dying!”

“Talk fast!” Talia growled, flying down the steps and out her front door, “Where were you last?”

“The loft. Derek’s loft. S-so co-“

The phone cut out and Talia tossed it aside, dropped to all fours, and flew through the woods in her lupine form. A roar tore through her as she caught Stiles’ scent partway through the woods. He was somewhere nearby! It must have been fate that he’d called her instead of Derek since he was closer to her! She had to find him. Fast. Her son wouldn’t survive without his Mate and she couldn’t bear to lose another child. Not again.

XXX

Derek woke to find his bed cold and his warning alarm going off. He grunted as he crawled out of bed to seek out the intruder and then froze in horror. Stiles was gone, and his side of the bed was cold.

“Stiles!” Derek roared, stampeding around to try and find his mate during what was clearly a dangerous time.

“Derek!” A voice called from the door as banging started up, “Where’s my son, you bastard!”

Derek opened the loft door to meet John’s glare, but he was too worried to care.

“Stiles is missing,” Derek spat out.

“I know,” John growled, “Your father called me and said Talia got a call from him. Where the hell is he?”

“How should I know?” Derek asked, sniffing at the doorway, “Move. I’m trying to track him.”

“You really don’t know where he is?”

“No.”

“Why did he call your mother?”

“You’re not getting the part where I have no information, are you?” Derek growled, heading down the hall, “Something smells off. No one else was with him but… the scent is off.”

“Off how?” John asked.

“We don’t just smell people, we can pick up emotions, too. Stiles smells like he’s fighting someone- fear, anxiety, stubbornness- but there’s no one else there.”

“That’s weird.”

“Yeah.”

“No. No, it makes _perfect sense_.”

“What?” Derek looked up quickly.

“Stiles has been exhausted and stressed, right?”

“Yes?”

“Well when he called your mother he described where she was and your father heard it and relayed it back to me. I wrote it down, but… it could be anywhere. Except, what if he’s asleep?”

“What?”

“What if he’s sleepwalking? What if he was asleep when he called your mother? What if he’s _still asleep_?”

“Then how will we find him?”

“How long could he have been gone?”

“No more than a few hours.”

“And he’s on foot. The smell, the cold, he’s outside somewhere.”

“It’s cold as hell! He was naked when we went to bed!”

John gave him a vicious glare, “We’ll address that later. For now, you need to start sniffing him out but I think I know where we’re headed. Are you faster on foot or by car?”

“Foot.”

“Fine. Head to your parent’s woods. There’s a field in there where some murders took place a few years back. Stiles stuck his damn nose in it like usual. It’s completely surrounded by Gingko trees. Those damn berries smell like someone puked up flowers.”

“I know the field,” Derek nodded, and took off at top speed while John ran down to his car to drive there.

Derek felt sick. Stiles was curled up in the field, shaking with cold but he could barely focus on his Mate. His mother was dead. Stabbed through the heart with a Japanese sword. She’d died instantly, her eyes not even closed and no final words to pass between them. Derek knelt there in misery before John arrived and began shouting at him to help him with Stiles. Derek pulled himself upright and headed over to where John was wrapping a barely conscious Stiles in an emergency blanket.

“We’ve got to get him to a hospital,” John grumbled.

_My Mate!_

Derek scooped Stiles up and took off with him to the car, knowing the heater was crucial. He started it up and rubbed at Stiles’ hands while he waited for John to catch up. He didn’t notice he was weeping until he had to wipe moisture off of Stiles’ face. John entered the car and they drove to the hospital for warm saline and another round of antibiotics for Stiles’ battered, sickly body.

Except the doctors were stunned to find that Stiles’ liver wasn’t suffering anymore. His skin was back to his natural color once the saline went through him, and when he came to he had an appetite to match his healthy self. Derek could only smile weakly when told his Mate would live. His heart was breaking in so many pieces that it was difficult to feel it heal.

XXX

Peter stood up slowly and walked into the bathroom across the hall. He stared into the mirror a moment, unsure what had woken him up. Then he felt it. Talia’s passing. The power that should have gone to her daughter descending into him. His eyes widened. Pain lanced through him. His sister. His beloved, beautiful sister with laughing eyes was dead. Peter stepped back and screamed his outrage and anguish to the sky, his screams drowning out the mournful howl of the mate she left behind.


	12. Chapter 12

John sat beside Jethro in companionable silence. He had lost a wife years ago, but even so he found the words difficult to bring forward. ‘I’m sorry’ means so little when you’re heart is an open wound. ‘It will get better’ feels like a lie and often is. ‘I’ve been there’ just felt like he was trying to one-up him. ‘At least you have your kids’ was always a kick in the crotch, because raising a child alone is _hard_ , and dealing with loss on top of that is enough to drive a man insane. So he just sat silently while Jethro stared at his hands, rubbing them together as they both waited.

“So, your son’s alright?” Jethro asked.

“Yeah,” John replied.

“That’s good. Derek is real fond of him. It’s not everyone who finds a Mate.”

“Mm.”

“Losing a Mate is worse than losing a mate.”

It took John a moment to follow that sentence, but when he replayed it in his head he heard the emphasis on Mate and understood what Jethro was saying.

“Were you and…”

“No,” Jethro replied, laughing bitterly, “I spent a significant chunk of our marriage jealous of a person who she never knew, worried they’d show up and whisk her away. I wanted to be her Mate so badly. Kind of glad that I wasn’t now. It hurts so much… if she had been…”

“Look, I’m kind of obligated to tell you I’m sorry, but for the record I know what a piss thing that is to say and-“

“Is this what my son went through?” Jethro asked softly.

“What?”

“Paige was his Mate. Stiles’ former self, apparently. He went through this as a _teenager_. Worse than this, if she really was your son’s previous incarnation. Can you just imagine? Losing Claudia and it hurting twice as much?”

“No I… I don’t think I can. Did Stiles tell you about his mother?”

Jethro shook his head, “I’m a Marine. Sniper. Gunnery Sergeant. I found if I thought ahead of my men they tended to stay alive longer.”

“So you… looked me up?”

“Your son married mine. I figured it was important. Sorry if that drudged up-“

“Nah, forget about it. I did the same to you. Background check didn’t mention you were smart, though.”

“Most people see me with an alpha female and they just decide that I’m this walking sex toy instead of a… I’m never going to touch her again.”

Jethro’s eyes went wide with shocked horror and then he broke down and John rubbed his shoulder in sympathy, remembering well the agony that that same realization had brought up for him. The man was still sobbing brokenly when he glanced up again.

“You know what the sick part is?”

“Tell me,” John replied, knowing he needed to talk.

“She wasn’t the one who found her Mate. I was. I found him, but I never told him because I loved her first. I just hoped she’d keep me stable. Now I guess I’ve got no choice. I’m going to lose my mind. I might as well-“

“Get your Mate,” John cut him off, “Damn it, Jethro, you have a chance at happiness again! Without the pain in the ass dating scene! Take it! It won’t feel right for a few years, maybe longer, but if he’s your Mate he’ll wait! He’ll make it worth living for!”

Jethro gave John a pained smile and nodded, “Yeah. He probably will.”

“So?” John shifted back in his seat, “Don’t waste good.”

“You know what? I like that saying. Don’t waste good. Huh.”

John shrugged, “Feel free to use it.”

“I think I will.”

XXX

“I… I remember these strange faces. They were sort of twisted up,” Stiles told Derek, “It’s so strange. I can’t tell what’s dream and what isn’t.”

Derek stroked Stiles’ hair lovingly, “You’re well now, that’s all that matters.”

“Yeah, all those antibiotics they pumped into me,” Stiles muttered, “They said I have to keep taking them until the bottle is done. They gave me another shot just to make sure.”

Derek nodded, “That’s all that matters.”

“You keep saying that,” Stiles gave him a worried look, “Are you okay?”

“My mom just died, what do you think?” Derek sighed, leaning back in his chair and rubbing at his face.

“I’m so sorry,” Stiles replied softly, “My mom died when I was little.”

“That must have been awful,” Derek replied, looking up at him, “I have enough trouble with the fact that I won’t be able to go to her for advice anymore. I have no idea how you dealt with this.”

“I had panic attacks and freaked out and slept in my dad’s bed every night. Of course, I didn’t have a beautiful Mate to lean on,” Stiles replied with a wink.

Derek smiled wanly, “You’re perfect.”

“Oh, go on!” Stiles waved a hand, “No really. Go on.”

Derek didn’t laugh, but he did look slightly less distressed, “I wonder how my dad’s doing?”

“You can go, you know,” Stiles smiled softly, “I’m in the hospital. What could happen?”

“I really don’t want to know,” Derek groaned, “You’re trouble with a capital T. I wish I knew who was killing our family off.”

“Me too,” Stiles replied softly, “Who is the alpha now?”

“I dunno,” Derek replied, “After Laura, I’m the next in line, but I don’t feel any different. It doesn’t always follow a straight line, sometimes the power gets passed to the most powerful.”

“Pity,” Stiles smirked, reaching out to pet his cheek, “I’d love to see you with bright red eyes. All that power is super sexy.”

Derek smiled softly, “Well, if I ever become an alpha you’ll be the first to know.”

“Will I feel it?”

“Only when I grab you and have my way with you,” Derek flirted, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to his forehead, “You know what? I will go check on my dad. He’s been getting coffee for a while.”

“He probably doesn’t want to see other couples,” Stiles told him, “My dad couldn’t look at them for ages.”

Derek winced, “That’s… a good point. I’ll be right back. Try not to get violently ill or sleepwalk while I’m away.”

“L.O.L.,” Stiles snorted, waving a hand at him, “I’ll be fine.”

Derek walked out to the waiting room where Stiles’ father and his own were leaning in close to talk to each other. Derek overheard John promising to make sure that he would make the investigation a priority and include Jethro in all the details. Derek froze in shock when he saw Jethro take John’s hand. John didn’t protest, didn’t even seem to notice, and Derek backed out of the room with a sick feeling in his stomach. His mother’s body wasn’t even cold! How _could_ they?! What if…

Derek turned and hurried away, panic twisting up his insides. He had no idea who he could trust. His father killing off his mother to get to his Mate was something he’d never imagined after growing up with their fairy tale marriage- being mates instead of Mates not withstanding- but now his entire worldview was being turned on it’s ear. Laura was dead. His mother was dead. Someone had poisoned his mate, and no one would ever convince him otherwise. Derek practically ran back to Stiles’ bedroom to find his mate staring serenely at his phone.

“Do you think it could be your dad? I mean, I know he’s not a Hale, but he _did_ marry your mom and-“

Derek crossed the room quickly and wrapped his arms around Stiles tightly.

“Um… you okay, honey?”

“I love you, you know that, don’t you? It’s not just biology. It’s not just being Mates. You’re my whole world, Stiles. You’re funny and sweet and smart and _everything_.”

“I love you, too, Sourwolf,” Stiles stroked his arm, “More than I can ever say.”

“Don’t ever leave me.”

“Never,” Stiles promised.

Derek didn’t see his eyes flash black, the white completely disappearing before it vanished back to his natural color again.

XXX

Peter stepped into the McCall living room and sat down on the young alpha’s couch. He had a few hours to wait before morning, but the True Alpha’s power was enough that he didn’t need the alarms Derek had on his loft. He came downstairs with eyes glowing red, claws and teeth flashing, and a low growl in his throat.

“You’re a Hale,” He growled, “What are you doing here?”

“We’re pack, aren’t we?” Peter asked, looking up at him with wide eyes, “I thought I could go to you in times of trouble.”

“What sort of trouble?” Scott asked, his eyes returning to their natural color.

“You haven’t heard?”

“I just woke up,” Scott replied.

“Talia was murdered,” Peter told him, standing up slowly.

“Oh my gods,” Scott’s eyes widened, “I’m… I’m so sorry!”

“Thank you. She was my sister and… I’d love to mourn, but I just can’t. I have a responsibility even if I’m _not_ the next alpha. I’ve checked with the rest of my pack and her power didn’t come to any of us. It’s our belief that your union with our pack has made _you_ our alpha.”

“Me?” Scott asked in surprise, “But I came to _you_ guys for help!”

“You outsmarted _Deucallion_ ,” Peter emphasized, “Our pack is being slowly slaughtered, and whoever is doing it isn’t even trying to be stealthy anymore! First Laura, Talia’s proper heir, then Stiles being poisoned, and now Talia herself slain! We need you, Alpha McCall.”

“Scott. Call me Scott,” Scott stated, holding out his hand with his shoulders squared, “And you’ve got me. We’ll contact the rest of my pack right now and get ourselves ready.”

“Ready for what?” Peter asked innocently.

“War,” Scott stated, “Your pack’s been riding safe on their name, but mine’s been fighting since we first formed. We’re used to this and we’re _ready_. Stiles isn’t well, but-“

“That’s something else I wanted to talk to you about,” Peter stated, fear in his voice, “I went to the scene of the crime, as it were. I scented around. There were only two scents besides the police, and they were all over the area. Mixed in with Talia’s.”

“I take it you recognized them?”

“Yes. Stiles and my nephew, Derek. Unless they were murdered by a ghost there _was_ no other killer.”

“ _Other_ killer?” Scott’s eyes widened, “You’re not suggesting that Stiles and Derek killed Talia!”

“No, I believe Stiles is as much a victim as Talia was. He was poisoned, but he just appeared at the hospital _healthy_. What does that point to?”

“Um… a cold?” Scott replied, eyebrows furrowed.

Peter took a moment to count to ten internally and _not_ rip the idiot’s throat out.

“It makes it _blackmail_. Stiles mysteriously falls ill and then after Talia’s death is suddenly well? _Derek_ poisoned him. _Derek_ made him lure my sister out of her home and the safety of her pack. _Derek_ killed her.”

“Why?” Scott whispered in horror.

“Isn’t it obvious? To become the alpha. Except his plan backfired. He isn’t the alpha, _you are_. You know what that means, don’t you?”

Scott shook his head slowly.

Peter sighed, “Remind me not to ever ask you that again. It _means_ that the next head on the chopping block is _yours.”_


	13. Chapter 13

Derek hung up his phone, turning to see Stiles pacing the room anxiously.

“We have to protect ourselves,” Stiles told him, “How can we fortify the loft?”

“I think you should be resting.”

“How can I rest when there’s a murderer on the loose going after Hales? I was barely a Hale for a day before I got sick because of him!”

“I won’t let anyone hurt you. Not ever again.”

“Then we _have_ to fortify this place!” Stiles insisted, “How? You know the building’s layout better than I do.”

Derek considered the situation, “The building has some serious electrical output. If we ran wires to various points we could electrify doors, doorways, handrails, the elevator... we could sustain that for ages. ”

“Okay,” Stiles nodded, “Let’s do it.”

XXX

Jethro watched John work the scene from the car. He wasn’t sure if John was aware that he was unconsciously keeping Jethro close. Probably the human was telling himself that he was going to keep him near to protect him or support him through these trying times as his son’s father-in-law. Jethro doubted that those were his true motivations. John wasn’t aware of their connection on a conscious level yet and Jethro wasn’t ready to push it. The thought of touching another sexually or romantically turned his stomach. For now he was just going to study the younger man from afar and get to know him, basking in the emotional stability he provided.

And once John located his wife’s murderer Jethro was going to slice them apart layer by layer, and remove every vein until their eyes turned foggy.

It was a few hours before a figure skittishly moved about on the edges of the clearing. Jethro slipped out of the car and scented the air. _An Argent!_ He let out a quiet snarl, quickly transformed, and bolted after the hidden human predator. Jethro took him down with a wild roar, pinning him to the ground.

“Jethro!” John shouted, panic in his voice as he ran towards him.

The sound of the gunshot reached Jethro’s ears but he just shoved the waving arms down to stop another misfire. It didn’t occur to him that the shot came from _further_ away until he felt John putting pressure on his side rather than pulling out his cuffs.

“Hold still, Jethro. Hold still. Parris! Cuff this bastard!”

Parrish got off his radio while Jethro stared down at the darkness spreading on John’s jacket as it pressed into his side. Several officers were trying ot figure out where the shot had come from and shouting about tracking the shooter, but it was likely too late. He’d gotten in his revenge shot for his Hunter buddy’s arrest and fled, and now Derek and Cora were in danger of losing _another_ family member.

“I can’t leave my kids,” Jethro swore angrily.

“You won’t,” John insisted, “We’ll get you help. How are you? Is it healing?”

“No. Fucking wolfsbane bullets. It feels like acid.”

“Shit,” John snarled, “What should I do? Pull it out?”

“It’s in a vein. I can feel it moving inside me. You want me to survive this?”

“Hell yes!”

“Stop my heart.”

“What?”

“You have defibrillators, yeah? Shock me. Stop my heart. It will stop the bullet moving. You’ll have ten minutes to cut it out of me before the lack of oxygen to my brain causes permanent damage. If it doesn’t work at least I’ll go peacefully.”

“Fucking hell, I can’t do that!”

“The ambulance won’t get to me in the _fucking woods_ before that bullet gets to an organ! My flesh will heal, my organs won’t! Do it, John! Or watch your Mate die!”

John froze, eyes widening in horror, and then turned to shout over his shoulder, “PARRISH! GET ME THE DEFIBRILATOR!”

XXX

Stiles sat on the couch in their loft, smiling softly as he ran his fingers through Derek’s hair.

“My handsome Mate,” Stiles purred.

“Hmm,” Derek hummed, nuzzling against his belly. Resting with his head in his Mate’s lap was something he’d never thought he’d be able to do after Paige had died, “I’m so beat.”

“Not yet, you’re not,” Stiles chuckled in amusement, “We won’t let them keep us down. No matter who comes through that door- or what- we’ll stand strong together. We can form our own pack. You and I, Derek. Against the world.”

“Mm, maybe your pack?”

“Scott? Sure. Scott’s alright.”

“Scott’s your best friend,” Derek stated flatly, eye opening, “If you’re going to continue to impersonate my Mate you could do a better job of it.”

Stiles went still in shock, eyes widening, “What?”

“Please,” Derek sat up with a yawn, “I’ve known for a while now. You’re an amazing actor and very manipulative, but the fact of the matter is I _know_ my Mate.”

“You’ve known him for a fucking week!” Stiles screeched.

“I’ve known him for a thousand lifetimes,” Derek replied, leveling him with a steady gaze, “Only the fact that you smell like him is stopping me from killing you. I’ll tell you something Stiles might have left out, though. Stiles is mine. If I can’t have him, no one can. The second I figure out how to separate you two I will kill you.”

A wicked smile spread across Stiles’ face, his eyes flashing black for a moment before returning to normal.

“And in the mean time he’s being tortured inside this body,” Stiles stated, hand to his chest, “Watching you fall in love with _me_.”

“I don’t love you. You’re cold and cruel,” Derek growled angrily.

“Yet you’ll protect my life, because it’s Stiles’ life. You’ll kill anyone who walks through that door to keep him safe and I’ll sit here _feeding_ on the chaos, strife, and pain! Watching you destroy your family! All that pain you took from Laura that I sucked out through your skin while you came inside of me. I like this body, and I like the accessories it comes with,” Stiles reached out and stroked Derek’s jaw with one long finger, “And the host was _so_ damaged to begin with. Possessing him was like taking candy from a baby! Speaking of babies… shouldn’t we be making one?”

Stiles leaned back with a leer, hand reaching down to palm the crotch of his trousers, while Derek snarled angrily.

“You expect me to _fuck_ _you?”_ Derek growled.

“No,” Stiles laughed, “I expect you to ride my dick like a rodeo star, because the only part of Stiles you’ll ever see again are his offspring. You want a future? That’s it. I’ll let you have Stiles’ child, because that’s the one thing I can’t give you that he can. It will keep you happy and mine. Forever. So. Strip.”

Derek growled angrily, but he didn’t refuse either. He was angry, hurt, and deeply saddened. If he didn’t fuck Stiles he’d end up killing him, and then himself. Besides, the monster inside of Stiles was right. If he had some part of his Mate it would make life bearable. Somewhat bearable.

XXX

Peter caught the scent of the electricity traveling through the doors before Scott could push his way in and just barely stopped him in time. They spent a few hours disabling the electric before being able to sneak into the loft. There was no way to get into the actual loft without alerting the occupants, so they charged it only to have a cable thrown into a puddle at their feet. Peter rolled free of the water but Scott, Boyd, Isaac, and Erica got varying degrees of shocks until the overload shut off the system.

Darkness descended and Peter could hear Derek sniffing the air.

“I knew it was you,” Peter growled, “Well, you’ve failed. You’ll never be the alpha, Derek.”

“I don’t want to be the alpha,” Derek replied softly, “I don’t want to fight you. Just leave.”

“You killed my _sister_. My _alpha_. You’re destroying my pack!”

“I never hurt them,” Derek replied miserably, “I never would. Though I accept responsibility.”

“And you will pay in full.”

Peter let out a savage roar and launched himself at Derek with intent to kill while Stiles laughed from the safety of the kitchen counter, his voice echoing off the walls.

XXX

John didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be at the hospital with Jethro, holding his hand, smelling his hair… when the hell had he turned into such a sap? He hadn’t been this smitten since Claudia, and he’d never expected to love anyone ever again. He’d dated more for distraction and in the hopes of having a partner in life to help raise Stiles, but it had never worked out between his job and Stiles being… well… Stiles. He’d given up completely after Stiles had graduated because he figured he’d managed okay if the kid was working his way through college.

So how had he ended up mooning over a werewolf who had just lost his _wife_? And so quickly? No one fell in love that fast, it had to be chemical. It was sick that he was so messed up over him that he was having trouble paying attention to an interrogation!

“So what you’re saying is, Talia Hale wasn’t killed by a Hunter. She was killed by a masked, cloaked figure that magically appeared, tried to kill my kid, then killed her while she was defending him.”

“Yes,” Argent insisted.

“That’s your story?”

“Yes.”

“You’re really gonna stick with that?”

“It’s the damn truth! That wolf wouldn’t have even gotten shot if he hadn’t tackled me! My family was defending me! Those beasts are-“

John stood up with a sigh, “Parrish, get him into a nice comfy cell-“

“Wait! There was someone else there!”

John paused with his hand on the door and raised an eyebrow.

Argent swallowed, “She was far away, but if you get another were there, one who isn’t connected to her, you could get them to confirm. The Hale’s are probably protecting her or they’d have told you. They’ll want to hunt her down themselves.”

“Why if she didn’t kill Talia?”

“Because she was controlling the creatures that attacked her. If you let me get my bestiary-“

“You fuckers are into _that?”_ John replied with a grimace, “I thought you hated werewolves, not loved _wolves_.”

“Not bestiality! _Bestiary!_ I could identify the things that attacked her. They definitely weren’t human or werewolf. The one on the hill, she was some kind of were I think.”

“You think?”

“She was setting of my weredar.”

“You’re a real piece of scum, you know that?”

“She was Asian,” The man scowled, “They haven’t got wolves. She was probably a kitsune or nogitsune.”

John’s eyes narrowed. Those kinds of details didn’t sound like lies.

“Keep going…”

XXX

There was a sudden flare of red from Peter’s eyes and then they went glazed and still. Derek waited to hear his breath stop, but it was still there with the smell of pain. His brain was practically cooked, his body charred, and the damage beyond recovery. He could smell the emotions drain away as Peter’s brain ceased functioning properly. Derek knelt over his uncle, taking his pain even though he knew it was what Evil Stiles wanted. He heard his lungs falter and fail, his brain too damaged to remember how to _breath_ e. He could call an ambulance now, keep him breathing with the first aid kit he had in the kitchen, but Peter would be a vegetable for the rest of his life. Derek pulled his claws out, tears running down his cheeks as he rested them against Peter’s throat.

“I’m so sorry, uncle,” Derek whispered.

Evil Stiles’ laughter fractured the last of Derek’s resolve as he stood up, blood dripping from his claws.

“I’m done playing your games,” Derek spoke softly.

Stiles’ laughter stopped, “You’ll never be done with me. You’re _hooked_.”

“I’m done,” Derek replied softly, “I’d rather die than live like this. Look what you’ve _done_.”

Derek gestured to the injured wolves around him. Isaac was in the worst shape and Derek walked to where he’d left his cell phone to call for an ambulance before he died. Scott was reaching for his Mate, tears rolling down his cheeks. In one fell swoop Stiles had nearly destroyed his own pack.

“What are you going to do?” Stiles sneered, walking up to him and running his hands over Derek’s shoulders flirtatiously. Derek’s traitorous body responded, always wanting Stiles despite everything that he’d done.

“I’m going to kill you,” Derek replied softly, turning to face Stiles slowly, not worried that the 911 operator could hear him saying this, “Then I’m going to kill myself.”

The operator was freaking out, but he knew she’d just trace his address so he tossed the phone down on the couch.

Stiles laughed, but before he could throw another glib phrase at Derek a voice spoke up behind him.

“I will help you.”

Derek’s head spun around in shock. HE hadn’t even _heard_ them approach, but there they were. Two Japanese women, one young and one middle aged, stood in his doorway over the ruin of his pack. The younger held a sword in her hand and was studying Stiles with pity in her eyes.

“Hello, Rhys,” The older of the two spoke, “Well met, old friend.”


	14. Chapter 14

“I am Noshiko Yukimora,” The older woman spoke, “And that Nogitsune is my problem.”

Derek stepped sideways to block her view instinctively, “I’m sorry. I’m bound to him. You’ll have to kill me first. It’s possible I could kill us both, but it would require a fracture in my mind and I’m not sure I’m there yet. Not if I’m still protecting him.”

The woman nodded and spoke to the girl behind her, “I am very sorry for your loss, werewolf. A Mate is to be cherished and yours has been a sad story. We will make this swift and painless. Kira. Take him out. I will send the Oni after the Void until you are through.”

Stiles stood up, heading towards them with a twisted look of outrage on his face, shouting at them angrily, “You failed before and you will fail again. I’m a thousand years old, Noshiko! YOU CAN’T KILL ME!”

“Give me one hour,” Derek ordered, and reached out as Stiles neared him.

The nogitsune wasn’t afraid of Derek.

The nogitsune was _wrong_.

Derek’s claws plunged into the back of Void Stiles’ neck and Stiles’ head flew back, eyes wide and fading to black. Both of their bodies stiffened and Derek’s soul plunged into Void Stiles’ mind.

XXX

“Mother?” Kira asked, eyes wide with shock, “What just happened.”

“He is an _alpha_ ,” Noshiko breathed, “This changes everything. An alpha possesses a devine move!”

“That game again, mother?” Kira frowned.

“We are kitsune, Kira. And the nogitsune is a dark kitsune. Life is a game. Ours has simply become far more serious than our kind wish. When we are free of this evil I will show you how to celebrate our kind, but for now… we wait.”

“You’re giving him an hour?” Kira asked.

“And only an hour,” Noshiko nodded, “A deal has been made, and his request is understandable. We will honor it. After that we must do what is necessary. The alpha may not be able to do what he must so we will be prepared for the worst.”

XXX

“You think you can beat me at _my game_ ,” The voice around him echoed.

Derek opened his eyes to find himself in a hospital. It was empty and there was no sound. No beeping. No rush of air ducts. His own footsteps were silent. Nothing. It was a void. Only the words that reached him from a strange distance were able to be heard. Derek walked down the hall, glancing into each room to find it empty, the bed carefully made. It was so orderly and clean that it was terrifyingly cold.

“You have no moves,” The voice told him.

Derek opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. He was mute. He kept walking down the hallway, but he never got closer to the end. He never even passed a damn nurses station! Frantic to find his Mate amongst the monstrosity of the nogitsune’s mind, Derek began to run. He had to reach Stiles one last time. He had to hold his Mate, tell him he loved him, kiss him goodbye. _Anything_ , but he could only do that _here_. And if he met the nogitsune first…

Derek panted, out of breath after running for what felt like hours. He had precious little time. The kitsune women could just run Stiles through where he stood trapped in Derek’s alpha power. He had to do _something_ before the world around him went dark! Derek shook his head in frustration. He had to think like Stiles. Stiles’ mother had died when he was young. They were in a hospital. Derek paused and turned into one of the empty rooms. As he approached the figure of a child appeared in a chair, staring at the empty bed. Derek tried to speak again, but his voice was gone. He stepped forward and reached out to the child, placing his hand on his shoulder supportively.

 _I’m here. I’ll always be here_. Derek thought at him frantically.

The child lifted his head, the moles and eyes so familiar that Derek’s heart ached. He stared up at Derek with blank, hurt eyes. A damaged soul. The soul that the nogitsune had said was easy to possess.

_I’ll help you heal. I will. I’ll…_

The room became elongated and snapped like taffy. Derek closed his eyes and shook his head until the world came back into focus. They were in a huge field with goals at both ends. Around the goal at one end grew the nemeton, the goal inside of a hollow in the tree as if it were a disease rotting its trunk. Within the goal was a small table which Stiles and a mummified man kneeled before. They were staring down at a game board covered in flat stones of two different colors. Derek was completely confused but he wasn’t going to let that _thing_ hover near his mate. He broke into a run again only to experience the same frustrating lengthening of the field as he had in the hospital.

Derek tried going sideways. He tried jumping. He even tried a few lacrosse moves in an attempt to get further into Stiles’ mind. He failed miserably.

Frustrated and angry, Derek growled deep in his throat and then stilled in shock. He could speak!

“Stiles!” Derek shouted, “Stiles!”

Nothing. Not even a blink.

Derek frowned and then remembered. Stiles had been in a pack for years. His best friend was an alpha wolf. His mate was a born werewolf, recently turned alpha. Derek took a deep breath, threw back his head, and howled.

XXX

The ambulance crew had taken out the injured young men and woman while Noshiko kept the four of them hidden with a carefully worked spell and the help of the oni. When the medical personnel left it was just the police to contend with, so she sent the oni to remove them. It was fast, easy, and harmless to the officers who would wake up down the street with no memory of what had happened. By that point it was far past the one hour mark and Noshiko turned to Derek and Stiles where they were tied together with his claws.

“It is time, alpha. I am so sorry.”

Kira raised the sword at her mother’s gesture but Derek staggered back, gasping for air with his eyes wide.

“No!” Derek gasped, lunging forward to stop Kira.

The oni descended on them and Derek wolfed out, prepared to protect his mate at the cost of his own life. The gagging sound behind him stopped him in his tracks as the oni turned towards Stiles and… waited.

Stiles leaned forward, grasping at his throat. He reached into his mouth and pulled out a bandage, tugging it free as he gagged and choked until a pile of bandages lay on the floor in front of him. He collapsed onto his side while the bandages writhed like snakes before forming the body of the mummy Derek had seen Stiles playing in his mind. Derek made a move to go to his Mate, but then paused. The oni were descending on the mummified figure with their hands out to tear him apart while it writhed on the floor but… Derek’s body was pulling him towards the figure in the bandages!

Derek ran towards him, but the oni threw him aside like a rag doll. He had once choice left. He flew at the figure of his Mate on the floor with teeth bared and ripped it’s throat open. A haunting scream rent the air and the figure before him began to spasm. Derek pulled back, wiping black ooze from his face in disgust. Kira flew around the oni who were turning to face the _real_ nogitsune as Derek pushed past them to get to the real Stiles. He didn’t see Kira dispatch it. He didn’t care. He only wanted his Mate.

Derek pulled the bandages off of Stiles’ pale face and petted his cheek desperately.

“I loved you,” A voice whispered in his ear as a fly buzzed by his head, but Derek only swished his hand at it and kept unwinding bandages.

“Please,” Derek pleaded, “Please, Stiles. Don’t leave me.”


	15. Chapter 15

Stiles took in a shaky breath and Derek waited pressing kisses to his forehead and stroking his cheeks as he slowly stirred awake. His eyes were bloodshot and disoriented when they opened, but they quickly focused on Derek.

“Oh gods,” Stiles rasped, and began to shake as he started to go into shock. Derek waved his hand at the two women standing over the pile of dust that was the former nogitsune.

“Blankets! Now!”

Kira bolted to the bed to get them while the woman knelt at Stiles’ other side, “We should call the ambulance again.”

“I’m sorry,” Stiles choked out, tears starting to fall like a river, “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Shh,” Derek soothed, “It’s okay. Just stay with me, sweetheart.”

Derek wrapped Stiles in blankets, scooped him up, and laid his head against his shoulder. Then he left, hurrying to Deaton rather than the hospital, without even bothering to secure his loft. None of that mattered right now. He had to get Stiles to a qualified druid and then he had to get to his sister Cora because she was about to go through hell. They were the only two left and she had _every_ reason to hate Derek right now.

Stiles kept whimpering apologies, long after Deaton soothed his broken soul with a cleansing circle. At least he was no longer shaking and sweating. Derek was left to bathe Stiles in one of the deep metal tubs normally used for bathing dogs… and according to Deaton the occasional foray into death rituals performed by the pack. One of them must have opened Stiles’ mind up enough to allow the nogitsune in, and Deaton warned that the cleansing ritual didn’t stop it from happening again. Stiles and all of the McCall pack had a back door entrance into their minds that would allow possession by evil spirits.

Derek vowed to keep Stiles safe even as he sat there in the tub with him, gently washing his body while his mate lay limp and exhausted against him.

“I’m sorry,” Stiles whispered.

“Why do you keep saying that?” Derek asked, nuzzling beneath his ear, “You had no way to tell me what was happening to you.”

“Your family,” Stiles choked out, “I…”

“You weren’t responsible,” Derek stated firmly.

“I remember everything,” Stiles sobbed, “Everything I did.”

“Everything _it_ did,” Derek insisted, “You were innocent.”

“I don’t feel innocent,” Stiles sobbed, “I took from you and took from you and-“

“You didn’t. It did. I’m here, I’m alive, and I’m whole because I have you. You’re my everything.”

“I’m not,” Stiles sobbed, “The nogitsune is.”

“No, Stiles.”

“It’s true. He’s the one you held. The one you _fucked_. The one who fucked _you_ ,” Stiles sobbed, “I was just a fucking peeping tom watching it all…”

“You were in there,” Derek pressed a kiss to his temple, “That’s who I was making love to, Stiles. You.”

“What if the nogitsune was your Mate?” Stiles shook in his arms, “What if we just killed your Mate and now you’ll die from loneliness and-“

“He wasn’t my Mate. You are. You’re my Mate.”

“And I’ll just keep loving you without it being returned and you’ll die in my arms?”

“I love you,” Derek whispered, “I love _you_. My Mate. My world. Father of my future children.”

“I don’t even know if I _want_ kids,” Stiles sobbed, “My mom’s illness…”

“Your powers,” Derek whispered, “You’re more than your family history, Stiles. You’re a druid. You’re powerful. You just haven’t come into your own yet.”

“I have,” Stiles choked, turning in the water and kneeling up.

Once facing him, Derek could feel the power thrumming through Stiles’ body. As his gaze was drawn down his body where he knelt between Derek’s thighs he saw the heat from Stiles’ veins thrumming through him. A map across his torso, narrow at his hips and spreading down his thighs, but I was his chest were the power really lay. An inverted nemeton. Stiles’ veins made an inverted nemeton with the root structure spreading across Stiles’ chest, the trunk at his hips, and the branches spreading down his thighs, probably all the way down to his toes.

“Oh my gods,” Derek breathed, “What are you?”

“I don’t know,” Stiles whimpered, and his head fell against Derek’s shoulder as Stiles broke down, sobbing and shaking as days of grief burst out of him in a tsunami wave of pain.

XXX

Stiles placed a flower down on the grave, staring at his mother’s marker for a long time. Derek was behind him, waiting patiently at the car. He didn’t want to come closer. Stiles couldn’t blame him. It was hard enough for Derek to meet _one_ of his parents, let alone the second one.

“Hi, mom,” Stiles sighed, “So I’m married now. It’s weird. It’s to a guy, but he can have my kids so… yeah. Weird. Anyway, I’m trying to get over the crazy shit that went down a while back. I’m guessing you know all about it?”

_Yes, baby. I know. I’m so sorry you went through all of this. Are you okay?_

“As okay as I’ll ever be,” Stiles sighed.

_Does he make you happy? I can only see events, but your heart is lost to me when you’re away._

Stiles smiled softly, “You know what? Yeah. He does. He’s a sourwolf and has a serious eyebrow thing going on, but he’s good to me and he wants to give me the support I need to keep going.”

 _He’s very handsome_.

“Well… yeah,” Stiles nodded, smirking and blushing a bit, “He’s amazing actually he… ew, wait. You’re not watching _everything_ , are you? Because we’re family and that’s weird.”

Stiles smiled at the sound of his mother’s laughter. It always soothed something inside of him that was wild and angry.

_You’re just like your father._

“Great, my favorite comparison. Thanks mom,” Stiles replied sarcastically.

They both knew it wasn’t true. He loved his father and he was flattered to hear himself compared to him. Stiles and his mother talked for a few more minutes before Stiles leaned forward and kissed a knot on the tree that he’d been pretending was his mother’s cheek for years. The marker for her grave that Stiles had planted when he was just a child, the tree that had grown unnaturally fast with his mother’s ashes nurturing the roots, was beautiful when it blossomed each spring. The burgundy flowers would turn into fruit in the fall, fruit that the animals avoided to the point that Stiles had never tried them no matter how tempting they looked. Except once. Once he’d eaten them. When he was a teenager. The first year they’d fallen to the ground from the huge branches. The year that his friend Scott had become a werewolf and something had awakened inside of him that he’d tried to deny for a long, long time. Stiles made a mental note to come back again and pick some of the fruit. Derek had talked about making baby food by hand, that his family had never bought jarred food from the store for a single family member.

Stiles turned back towards his Mate and headed for the car with a relieved smile on his face. He felt better after talking to his mother. Stiles slipped his arms around Derek’s waist and kissed him slowly, loving the spicy scent of his mate and the rough burn of stubble. They hadn’t made love yet, and Stiles didn’t count the times when he was possessed by the nogitsune. They’d been waiting for a while now, waiting for Derek’s test to come back negative. It had and now Stiles felt absolved. Freed. The last of the nogitsune’s aftereffects on their lives was gone. Derek hadn’t conceived with him. They were free and clear to try on their own.

“I love you,” Derek told him, caressing Stiles’ cheek when they separated.

“I love you, too,” Stiles smiled warmly.

XXX

Back at the loft Stiles stripped Derek’s clothes off slowly. There was something beautiful about revealing the man’s tan flesh inch by inch. Besides, the slower he moved the more worked up Derek got. His eyes were glowing red and his teeth were playing peekaboo with his lips. Derek was hungry for him, nosing along his hairline and breathing in his scent through his nose and mouth. Stiles licked at his earlobe and Derek growled low in his throat.

“You want me,” Stiles smirked, “You want _all of this_.”

Derek snorted at his corny Mate, “Yes, I want all of that. Do you want all of this?”

“Aww, you need a confidence boost, big guy?” Stiles teased.

“I need your dick in my ass, tree hugger,” Derek growled, and picked Stiles up to throw him onto the bed.

Derek crawled up the bed, growling and ferociously as he approached his wide-eyed Mate. Stiles was panting, eyes wide and hands reaching out to touch his cheeks and shoulders.

“Oh my gods, Derek, I’m so fucking turned on right now it’s not even okay.”

Derek smirked, teeth flashing in the dim lighting, reached out with clawed hands and shredded Stiles’ pants.

“Oh my gods!” Stiles shouted, eyes wide, “Oh gods, I need more clothes. I need lots of clothes so you can do that every time. Every single time. Fuck me. Seriously, Derek. Do me. Now. Do me _right now_. I need you to sex me _right fucking now._ ”

Derek growled and dragged Stiles down the bed by his thighs, straddling his hips as he smirked down at his panting lover. He reached for the oil he’d chosen, thick and viscous. Stiles had made it for him, he’d made several for him and let Derek choose the scent he wanted. This one smelled like leather and reminded Derek of the locker rooms from high school. He imagined Stiles and he falling in love as teenagers, still sweet and innocent and away from the poisons that had entered their lives later on. Derek missed Paige, but he had Stiles now and there was no way he was letting his beautiful Mate go. Not now that he finally had him.

Derek prepared himself quickly. He didn’t need much. His body was more resilient than Stiles’ was. He wasted no time gripping Stiles’ throbbing shaft, slicking it up with firm strokes that had his eyes rolling back in his head, and then sinking down on him with one firm motion of his hips.

“Oh my gods, that can’t have felt good,” Stiles gasped.

“Mm,” Derek shook his head, “So good. Fill me, Stiles.”

“I think,” Stiles panted, “I think we’re supposed to _both_ enjoy this. Move, Derek. Fucking _move_!”

Derek lifted his hips and slid back down with a low moan. Stiles’ hand flew for Derek’s cock instantly, but Derek brushed it aside. He wanted to savor this and pleasure would distract him from the feel of Stiles’ rod plunging in and out of his body. He rode the beautiful man slowly, savoring every inch of the flesh that pierced his body. Stiles lifted his hips up to meet him on every downward thrust, hands gripping Derek’s thighs and eyes fluttering open and shut in pleasure. His moans were music to Derek’s ears. His scent intoxicating. Every drop of sweat and gust of minty breath was like a shot of wolfsbane liquor. He needed Stiles. He needed the young man’s body beneath him, gasping his name as the muscles in his abdomen contracted. He was holding back. Derek could tell he was.

Derek growled and dragged sharp claws down Stiles’ body, pressing just hard enough to make his skin tingle. Stiles let out a choked sob of pleasure and his cock pulsed in Derek’s ass. Derek groaned as Stiles’ hot seed filled his body. He sat down full, buring Stiles up to his balls in Derek’s body. He could feel his tight orbs rubbing against his full ass as he ground his hips down. Each caress to his pleasure spot was driving him wild. He let his head fall back and groaned as Stiles fumbled with his dick before stroking it firmly.

Derek felt his own body draw up, tight coils of pleasure flowing through him before releasing in long streams that painted Stiles’ torso. His mouth fell open and he didn’t bother to stop the cries that fell from his lips as he came over his beloved Mate’s body.

“Stiles! _Stiles_!” Derek gasped out, gripping his shoulders and grinding harder against Stiles’ remaining erection, “Fuck, don’t stop.”

“Seriously?” Stiles asked, eyes wide, “Still?”

“Mm, stay hard, stay hard,” Derek panted.

“Yeah, because I have a werewolf’s stamina. Totally,” Stiles panted, jerking Derek’s cock harder.

Derek arched forward and then threw his head back, screaming in pleasure as his body contracted around Stiles’ half-hard cock. A few more spurts of spunk splattered on Stiles’ body and the young druid gasped and exclaimed his excitement.

“Oh, wow. Oh wow, that was hot. That was _so_ hot. I had no idea guys could have multiple orgasms. Jiminy Cricket, that’s unbelievable. You’re so fucking hot and I can’t believe you’re mine."

“Mm, yours,” Derek breathed.


	16. Chapter 16

“This is so amazing,” Scott smiled down at the baby in Derek’s arms.

Little baby Claudia was nursing happily on Derek’s chest, content to cling to her father and take sustenance for hours on end. She was a ferocious feeder and Derek refused to wince as she gnawed at him. Stiles was proud of how well she fed, unaware that she was almost drawing blood as she did so. He was proud of his Mate and their beautiful child.

Stiles caressed the baby’s cheek when she finally unlatched and scooped her up. He placed her over his shoulder and walked with her as he patted her back firmly until she burped a few times. Stiles hummed happily as he carried the little baby to her basinet. Nursing always put her to sleep and it was something he knew they’d miss when she finally started to fight sleep. Stiles laid her down in the basinet and then winced when her eyes flickered open.

They were black, the whites gone as she looked up at her daddy.

“Uh, oh. Shhh, shh, sleep, baby. Sleep.”

Baby Claudia blinked and her eyes returned to their pale blue with white around them. Stiles smiled happily, relieved she was hiding her true nature again.

“That’s it, sweetheart. Shhhhh, go to sleep. Little fox. Go to sleep little ki-it.”

“Fox?” Scott snorted, “Don’t you mean wolf?”

“Yeah,” Derek laughed, “He’s just quoting some stupid thing from the internet. He thinks it’s funny because he was possessed by a dark fox demon. It’s annoying.”

“What does the fox say?” Stiles chuckled, stroking between her eyes to encourage them to close.

Claudia cooed happily and then drifted back to sleep, her blue eyes hidden until from him until her belly was empty again… or her diaper full.

_My beautiful little nogitsune._

TBC…

**Author's Note:**

> A/N A few differences:
> 
> Werewolves are known and a part of society. Mate with a capital ‘M’ means bond, mate means chosen spouse. 
> 
> Obviously, the Hale Fire never happened, but there will still be deaths. Scott was turned by a rogue Alpha. Turned wolves and born wolves form packs together, but old blood like the Hales don’t normally associate with them because they’re snobs. So the merger’s kind of a big deal.
> 
> Scott’s pack is small, but that’s because his wolf pack was mostly killed off during his scuffle with Deucalion, which happened waaaay after high school in case you didn’t catch that. Deucalion never came for Derek, only for Scott, and he has only been a True Alpha for a year, having gotten there normally. His pack were all formerly omegas who drifted to Scott after he emerged. Scott’s mourning deaths right now, and the merger is important as protection.
> 
> Lydia is a banshee, but Peter never bit her so she came into her gift naturally and is still adjusting. She hasn’t met Meredith yet, but Eichen House is going to be a very different place. As in, not an asylum. 
> 
> No Allison. Sorry, but I’m not in the mood for her for this story. Scott’s with Isaac because I wuv them together. There will be hunters, but they’re like terrorists in this story and I don’t like Ally as a bad person so no Allison.
> 
> The Nogitsune hasn’t happened… yet.


End file.
